A single-engine airplane stalled during a flight west of Cedar Falls on Sunday night, forcing the pilot to land on a road.
Mike Welton, 64, of Waterloo, told deputies with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office that he was forced to make an emergency landing just south of 12th Street.
Neither Welton nor a passenger was injured.
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After a minor adjustment, Welton was able to take off and fly to the Waterloo Municipal Airport without further incident, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the forced landing, which happened about 6 p.m.
He’d be screwed if he just wanted to do it… But that reminds me though…
Any pilots from Nevada here? I’ve been in a good 3 year long debate over being able to land on a highway on another forum, and remember seeing on the nice drive up US 95 between Las Vegas and Reno some airplane markings on the edge of the highway with distances between the airplane markings (airplane markings obviously facing each other at the end of the distance painted). My argument is that this is to show pilots who are in trouble the length of the highway suitable enough for them to land on.
We have airplane paintings on some highways here in MS, and there are signs close by that says " Speed monitored by aircraft". I have no idea if they actually do it, or it is just used as a deterrent.
thing is though, US 95 isn’t an Interstate highway. It’s 4 lane leaving Las Vegas up to KINS, then drops down to 2 lane until entering Tonopah, then through OAL, then 2 lane all the way to KNFL.
Also, these aren’t airplane signs that are sticking up for the driver to see; these are literally painted on the road.
EDIT: Interesting track in the history. At first I was wondering what field he would have left from on the track he was at (only decent field from where he’s at would be KHSI or KGRI), but looking at it again, it looks like he was VFR, then picked up IFR just south of GRI. Not sure what the weather was at the time, though…
I’m gonna say it just for the deterrent effect. Best I know, Mississippi Dept. of Public Safety only has 1 Cessna and a couple helicopters. Forestry flies a few aircraft for fire patrol but doesn’t cross over, or didn’t a few years back. The only state I am aware of the has a (very) active aircraft traffic enforcement program is Indiana.
WaSP has three new gen C182T, two C206 and two B200’s. They use the Cessnas for traffic. The 206’s are equipped with FLIR and have an operator station in the back.
They have a “–” and a “<” painted on the shoulder every half mile. They use stop watches to clock the time between the marks. They are kind of hard to see if you’re driving cuz they orbit pretty high and off to the side of the highway. With a scanner you can pick 'em off 50-60 miles out.
We in Illinois have these as well although they’re simple tick marks every (I beleive) half mile. I have a freind who flies for ISP and they do use these to determine the vehicle’s speed and then radio to the cruiser on the ground. During the summer and favorable WX, they’re out quite a bit on I-55 between SPI and STL. They (like Wazzu mentioned WASP has) a 182 equipped with some neat cop stuff, and you’ll see them flying about 1000-2000 AGL in about 1 or 2 mile sectors typically.
Good not to race the 182 you see following the interstate here in ILL I guess. Beyond my freind Craig, everytime I see the aircraft, I can only think of Poncharello and John Baker up there watching speeders.
I flew from KVGT and worked at KHND and I asked the NHP guys when they came in in their 182 about that. They are the speed markings to calculate speed from the air.
To the best of my knowledge even if they clock you at some extra-legal speed from the air, all they can do is radio ahead to a patrol car who has to either use RADAR or Laser to clock you, or match your speed and clock you against their calibrated speedometer.
They can’t issue a ticket based solely on what is witnessed from the plane, too many “maybes”.
What really got me thinking about this, is that some of the markings were between 2000 and 3000ft long, which would be good enough distance for a light aircraft to land on, and a 2-lane highway looks to have the with to accommodate a Cessna’s wingspan.
Out here in the wild west they can! and they do! The guy flying the plane is a cop. They often get the person on multiple violations like following to close, improper passing (road rage). When they call the info down they follow the car right to the trooper on the ground and mark the time they clocked them and the color of the car. When they’re really busy the guys on the ground just flag the car over while they have others stopped. Out near Wazzu on the two lane roads they have a parking area and the ground cops have a stop sign they hold up as the speeding cars approach.
A friend went out and measured the marks one time and they were all hundreds of feet off. He took that info to the judge and got his ticket dismissed.
The Transit Autobahn that used to connect West Germany with West Berlin also had provisions for aircraft operations, including taxiways and aircraft shelters adjacent to the Autobahn (which was built with West German money by East Germany).
The pilot is usually a cop here in the civilized portions of the country as well Rob (), but an aerial timed or measured speeding bust isn’t going to stick in court. Now improper lane change, following too closely, etc. is another thing entirely, but they better not lose sight of the perp before he’s pulled over. And the officer/pilot who witnessed the transgression better show up in court rather than the one who wrote the ticket or all bets are off and the case will be thrown out if challenged, same goes for speed traps (BTDT).
Yep, or simple parallax error based on the aircraft not being precisely aligned with the offending car and the mile marker at the point timing began, or the fact that the timing was manual and there could be an error introduced due to pilot distraction, sheer incompetence, etc.
), but an aerial timed or measured speeding bust isn’t going to stick in court. Now improper lane change, following too closely, etc. is another thing entirely, but they better not lose sight of the perp before he’s pulled over. And the officer/pilot who witnessed the transgression better show up in court rather than the one who wrote the ticket or all bets are off and the case will be thrown out if challenged, same goes for speed traps (BTDT).