There’s a lot of crossover between people who are into race cars and people who are into small planes. While I’ve never flown a plane, I can see why people would enjoy both. There’s a certain freedom to driving on a track. No lanes to adhere to, no stop signs, no cyclists to worry about. I can only imagine flying is a lot like that, except with another axis of direction to play with.
Usually, flying and driving don’t mix. But they did on Saturday when a pilot of a 1968 Cessna 172K going from Hudson Valley Regional Airport in New York to Dillant/Hopkins Airport in New Hampshire experienced a mechanical failure and had to make an emergency landing at Lime Rock Park, a race track in Northwestern Connecticut. There was a track day going on hosted by Burnout Motorsport at the time, but somehow no one was seriously injured.
According to a statement put out by Lime Rock, the plane fell out of the sky at around 1 p.m. Eastern time. The pilot likely aimed for the small straightaway between the Uphill (turn 5) and West Bend (turn 6) as a landing strip, though judging by photos of the aftermath and video of the plane right before it touched down, it seems the plane landed on the infield skidpad and got caught up in some wire fencing.
As far as emergency landings go, this is pretty impressive. Take a look for yourself:
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After catching the fencing, the plane crashed into the wrong side of the metal Armco barrier before coming to a stop at Turn 6. The pilot was uninjured, while the only other occupant, a passenger, suffered minor injuries. Because there was a track day going on, there was already an emergency response crew on site, which rendered aid. The passenger was transported to the hospital for observation and treatment.
Considering it just went through a whole-ass crash-landing, the Cessna looked to be in pretty good shape, too. Aside from one of the wheels being torn off and a big dent on the lower part of the nose, the plane seems largely undamaged. Of course, whatever broke in the air will need fixing, too. Having done countless laps at Lime Rock in the past, seeing an airplane just sitting on the inside of West Bend is incredibly surreal.
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Joe Alicata was participating in the track day with his 996-generation Porsche 911 and was about to go out onto the circuit when the chaos broke out.
“We were all beginning to merge onto the track,” he told me over the phone. “I was midfield, and still in the paddock, and all of a sudden I look in my mirror, and there are guys jumping around, black flags waving. I’m like, ‘What the heck?’ And EMS takes off in front of me. I’m like, ‘What the hell happened?’ We were in pit lane, and I went into the paddock. At that point, someone’s like, ‘A plane crashed.’ I’m like, what are you talking about, ‘A plane crashed?'”
“Apparently, everyone was watching this plane and then heard the engine die,” Alicata said. “Everyone had said he was trying to land on the skidpad, which makes sense when you look at that video. You can see he came in over the skipad and went too far, and took out the barriers.”
The plane is registered to a company called Wings Over Texas Holdings LLC, though the pilot hasn’t been identified. Lime Rock says the incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Connecticut State Police. Our resident pilot, Mercedes Streeter, tells me a road is actually one of the last places you’d want to make an emergency landing, since you can’t predict traffic, power lines, or other infrastructure until you’re very close to the ground. A race track is a bit different, presumably, since it’s a more controlled environment. Personally, I think the pilot made the right call (and got incredibly lucky).
Photos published by Lime Rock Part to Facebook on Sunday show the plane being loaded onto a trailer and taken away:
This isn’t the first time a plane has made an emergency landing at a race track. The most famous such incident happened back in 1983, when an Air Canada flight carrying 69 people ran out of fuel and decided to land at Gimli Motorsport Park in Manitoba, a race track an hour north of Winnipeg. Luckily, Gimli used to be a Royal Canadian Air Force base and retains much of its original design, so it was able to accommodate the Boeing 767’s unscheduled session on track.
Next time I’m at a track day, I’ll be sure to keep one eye in the sky. While the chances an airplane will overtake me from above are small, they’re never zero.
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Hey, I am kinda familiar with this plane! I live around near the airport in question and drive past it every day for work and such. I watched this exact plane take off on the 16th as I was on my way home in the early morning.
When I saw the post from Lime Rock I knew it looked familiar until I looked up the tail number.
Somewhere on an aviation forum, this ignited another 15 page derail about airframe parachutes.
I give ‘props’ to the person filming this to get their butt safely out of the possible crash-landing path before resuming their filming.
Unfortunately the nose gear of the Cessna 172 is attached to the firewall and the firewall is a critical structural item. if the nose gear is broken off or bent under the belly, then the aircraft is now scrap aluminum. The cost of repair would far exceed the value, never mind the insane cost of a replacement engine.
It’s kind of funny, as a glider pilot I made at least 30 off airport landings in 20 years of cross-country flying. Gliders have vastly better control over their glide path than single engine aircraft, but land at about the same speed, 50 knots or not quite 60 MPH. Most gliders are equipped with what are effectively dive brakes, some of mine could limit speed to 60 knots in a completely vertical dive, then round out and stop (motorcycle size hydraulic disk brake, weight 1000-1700 lbs at landing) within about 500 feet after an obstacle. The most damage I ever did was scuff paint off the nose landing in a freshly plowed farm field. We learn very early to watch out for fences, culverts, rocks, and wires, plus long vertical poles on both sides of straight rural highways in Nevada and elsewhere to prevent drug planes from landing. Screw ups are not infrequent, and sometimes it ends up being the last one you’ll make.
Turn six always fools the rookies.
With a.crash landing like that @Mercedes I would not be surprised if the insurance company doesn’t write the plane off. Minimum it will need an engine overhaul, or a new engine.
Plus likely there is structural damage to the frame.
I have a brother-in-law that rented his plane out to a flight school near an air force academy. He had an at least 5 figure repair bill and a discussion with his insurance company, bc a student pilot barrel rolled it and caused structural damage in the tail, which was during a regularly controlled flight, plane laned just fine.
He caught the damage on a through pre-flight check.
Lime Rock’s gonna charge that pilot an extortionate amount per linear foot to replace that Armco.
Glad nobody was hurt. This WINGS OVER TEXAS HOLDINGS LLC company has 212 aircraft apparently when I search under them on the faa website
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NameResult
Under the fractional ownership model like this company, I wonder where the buck stops when it comes to maintenance as well as responsibility for something like an engine failure like this (as long as it wasn’t something stupid like forgetting to fuel up sufficiently).
There is always insurance that covers third party liability in a crash, and when it’s worth the cost, the aircraft itself. Either each pilot obtains insurance independently, or the owning LLC obtains a group policy for any pilots that meet specific minimum requirements. Maintenance is either handled by the owner(s) and amortized through hourly charges, or the pilots simply share the cost of taking it to a certified mechanic.
Let’s not forget about Sully Sullenberger and US Airways flight 1549. Imagine losing both engines shortly after takeoff in the NYC metroplex. Everyone survived and that’s probably the epitome of “any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”
When I went for my check ride it was out of Mount Pocono Airport – so my “emergency landing” spot with all the descent procedures and such was smack dab on Pocono Raceway. If you’ve got to get down, a racetrack is not a bad pick!
There was a similar crash involving a soccer field rather than a race track. Pilot was amazing. https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/local/article/engine-failure-to-blame-for-small-plane-crash-in-toronto-tsb/
Saw this on LRP Insta page this morning and thought, should I send it to Autopian? No, they probably have seen it about the same time I did
Can’t park your plane there, bro.
Gimli Motorspork Track?
You have my track
And my ambulances
And my axe
Go home Gimli, you’re drunk.
“Pilot ruins local tack day in selfish attempt to save own life”
The Onion may have a job opening for you.
“The self-obsessed Cessna driver was DQed after passing a 1991 Miata before the cones, and on the wrong side…”
I think I found a new challenge for Microsoft Flight sim, see what tracks I can land a Cessna at
Laguna Seca has to be extreme difficulty, there’s not really a straight anywhere.
I wonder if Laguna Seca’s corkscrew is rendered correctly in MSFS? Time to experiment!
I know if you want to play on easy mode land at Pocono
Look up Gimli Glider if you want to read a cool story about an amazing pilot.
That was the first thing I thought about when I saw this (and glad it was mentioned in the article!).
Absolutely amazing story involving metric to English unit conversions done wrong, backup wind-powered turbine for control and actual glider skills to get the plane down.
Big difference between gliding a Cessna 172 and a 767. Really big.
Yup… the 767 is a lot bigger.
LOL
I’ve been meaning to write about that one someday!
Yes! I was thinking that it’s perfect for your super in depth reporting, and excellent writing skills! It needs to be told by you.. I will watch for it!
I second the motion. All in favor say “Aye”.
I’d recommend a listen to Brian Lohnes’ “Dorkomotive” podcast on the whole affair. Absolutely fantastic listen, and what a series of unfortunate events and strokes of luck to have things play out as they did.
I swear, they’ll let anybody into the advanced group these days.
A point-by would have to be brutal.
At least you’ve got three options. Left, right, or up.
I imagine there was some thought of “I’m about to need an ambulance and fire extinguishers, and an active race track probably has a plentiful supply”.
The Ghost of Curtis Turner smiles and says, “That ain’t NOTHIN!”
Looking at the flight track, the relatively low altitude, and the area the plane was flying through, the pilot must have felt there were few options. You have only so much energy left in the aircraft after an engine failure, and while the map does show fields nearby, who knows if the aircraft had enough speed and altitude to make it before clipping one of the many trees?
An active racetrack carries some of the dangers of a road, as there’s track infrastructure and cars to get in your way. Of course, if you make a mistake, there are no do-overs or go-arounds. So, the pilot did an excellent job in getting the aircraft on the ground without any serious injury or really any major damage outside of the aircraft itself.
This is why CFIs drill emergency procedures into you from the very start. You never know when you’ll put that training to actual use.
I was thinking along the same lines. The northeast certainly has plenty of open fields, but they often have treelines on all sides. You’d have to start out high enough, pick your field, and clear the trees then drop quickly and put it down before getting too close to the treeline on the opposite side.
With no engine power and nothing but remaining energy to glide down dropping steadily off in an emergency landing, that’s not a good proposition.
The track probably provided clearer sight lines to spot power lines, and a large target of asphalt to set down on. The presence of emergency personnel and vehicles was a bonus.
As they say, any landing you can walk away from…
The FAA investigation is pretty much mandatory — Even when a pilot does everything right, every incident needs to be investigated to find out what happened (including prior maintenance done and any parts used) Air safety is a never-ending learning exercise. Not sure if the State Police investigation is called for, as the crash site is on private property not a public way — but hey, somebody probably called 911 so they’re obligated to show up. But the FAA will likely make it abundantly clear that it’s their primary jurisdiction.
This would be a premise to a Hallmark movie.
” He flies a Cessna, she drives a GT3 RS Weissach….”
Glad everyone is A-Otay though!!
Oh man, I’d probably watch that one without the usual eye-roll I give my wife.
Someone online said it well, when you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good landing, when the plane can fly away from a landing, it’s a great one. Especially considering the circumstances, this was a good landing.
Thank goodness everyone was OK, and double thanks it wasn’t Mercedes soloing for her license. I mean I can see the brilliance of a whole crossover idea kind of thing between cars and airplanes, but that would be taking it a bit too far.
I disagree. I would watch a race amongst flying cars. Sort of a rally course where the contestants start by driving several laps over a dirt course, followed by a pylon race, then ending on the rally course.
This. Must include LeMans style start that includes a co-pilot, smoke displays with fun shapes and a bonus water section for the floating car-planes
Quality out-of-the-box thinking here. Maybe a requirement each pilot-driver is costumed as an endangered species.