C172 lands in Brooklyn

wrote in message
...
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote:
He deserves to sound a little arrogant. He took a bad situation in a part
of
the country not known for wide open spaces and safely landed. It wasn't
his
lucky stars it was skill. He should be thanking the instructors he had
over
the years and his own ability.

It was definitely part luck and part skill; either one without the other
doesn't often end up like it did. And he sure as heck *does* have reason
to be thanking his lucky stars in addition to thanking his instructors
... he could just as easily have had the problem over a bunch of houses
or trees instead of over a park. As for arrogance, if it's frowned upon
in the cockpit, why is it acceptable on the ground? Even if he landed it
skillfully, he's still damn lucky.

Luck is where Opportunity meets preparation.

Al G, a VERY lucky fellow.

Ron Natalie wrote in
m:

Judah wrote:
Ron Natalie wrote in news:455b8968$0$26912
:

1 - Will the pilot get fined (FAA, NTSB, NYPD, parks authority,
anyone)?
FAA - not likely, might get a 709 ride out of it.

You think the FAA would want to checkride him after he glided the plane
to safety with no damage? I can't image that. What will they test him
on, his emergency landing skills? He already proved that he can do it
safely...
You betcha. They 709 ride people who gear up planes due to mechanical
failure who do perfect landings as well.

Gear up is an incident. Landing in a park isn't...

nrp wrote:


The environment you have to fly in out east! Here in Minnesota you'd
have a hard time getting anyone to go for water.............. If
nothing else you have to figure on being knocked out and then very
likely drown unless the rescue is immediate.

It depends more on the local terrain than being "out east." There are
lots of places in the eastern states with big long fields that are very
suitable for safe emergency landings. Unfortunately New York City
doesn't have many of these...fortunately this pilot did find one.

Gary Drescher wrote:

"Denny" wrote in message
oups.com...

He has overdrawn his good luck account for the next dozen years...


I think the default emergency landing site when flying low near NYC is the
Hudson River. If there happens to be a clear area on the ground, as there
was in this case, then that's even better (especially for the airplane). But
at worst, you just having to make a water landing (with a high likelihood of
prompt rescue).

It doesn't sound like this plane was close enough to the Hudson River to
think about landing there. Given the choice between that park and the
New York Bay/Raritan Bay, I would take the park too.

Of course if you're going to land in Brooklyn, Floyd Bennett Field
certainly might not be a bad choice, if the runways aren't full of model
airplane drivers, that is.

On Nov 17, 10:16 am, Bill Michaelson
Yeah - he had some luck, but where is the arrogance? I don't see it.

Calling it a "non-event" seems arrogant to me.

I would've expected something like, "I was just doing what I was
trained to do, but I was lucky to find that spot, that's for sure."

Marc

Howdy!

In article . com,
Marc Adler wrote:
On Nov 17, 10:16 am, Bill Michaelson
Yeah - he had some luck, but where is the arrogance? I don't see it.

Calling it a "non-event" seems arrogant to me.

I would've expected something like, "I was just doing what I was
trained to do, but I was lucky to find that spot, that's for sure."

A statement like that could just as easily be false modesty.

If he was being aware of his surroundings, being mindful that he might
have to make an unscheduled landing, he might well have noticed the
clear area. Having done that, it would have been a routine matter to
quickly assess its suitability as a landing field when the fan quit.

It's not "luck" so much as it is "prepared, aware, and alert", as
trained.

One thing that I don't recall being discussed: just how visible is
that park from the altitude he was flying at. Was it easy to spot
or did it require a really sharp eye to spot?

yours,
Michael


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