Plane hits car on landing.

[powderman]

http://www.whas11.com/news/177227511.html
 
 
First solo flight. I reckon the driver didn't see the pland and pilot seemed to not see the car. Glad I wasn't in either one. POWDERMAN. 

[Sourdough]

That road needs to be removed, period.  Since the owner won't sell, then he should be held accountable for all accidents that take place on his private road.  I am against the Federal Government taking private land, but there are exceptions.  This is one.  Since the owner refuses to sell, the FAA needs to step in and condemn an adaquate amount of land to provide a safety zone for landing aircraft.

At the ends of the runway on Ft Wainwright, the post have placed signs with flashing lights, and stop (Red) lights.  Ft WW has an extreamely short runway, and AF C-17s are coming in quite frequently.  These large aircraft need and use all the availiable runway.  They come in low over the Chena River, and touch down at the very end of the pavement.  Any vehicles that passing by on the roadway at the ends of the runway are in danger.  Once you have stopped at that light, and then seen a C-17 or even a C-141 come in you get the idea you need to look for approching aircraft.  It's scary and makes some folks paranoid about going around the ends of the runway.  I for one always look.

They don't use the lights when F-16s from Eielson AFB are doing touch and goes.  Let one F-16 fly over low with afterburners going as you go around the end of the runway, you will swear it's going to blow your vehicle off the road.  From that point you will always look before going around the end of the runway.  The signs are still there saying look for approaching air craft. 

[powderman]

ROG. There is a big white fence rt  next to that road, looked like the pilot barely cleared it too. The pilot should share the blame. POWDERMAN. 

[Sourdough]

Yes there is a fence, it is on the side of the road away from the runway.  In my estimation comparing the fence height to the small white car and the dark SUV, I'd say the fence was about 4' to 5'  tall.  Without being there and seeing it in person we can not tell how far the plane missed the fence.  Video does not provide depth perception.  The video does show he dropping just before hitting the car, but at a normal rate to my thinking.  As you approch the end of the runway you kill the power and let the plane settle onto the pavement.  Looks like that is just what he did.  According to the written statement there is a sign on the road saying "Stop For Approaching Aircraft".  The driver of the car failed to stop.  The woman passenger statements indicate to me that she was totally unaware of the plane approaching, yet there it is in the video.  The people in the SUV failed to look for approaching planes.  Airplanes can't stop, cars can.

The white car crossed in front of the plane, but was clear before the plane got there.  The dark car hit the plane.  Both cars should have stopped.  The pilot can not see the area directly in front or to the right of him due to the engine cowling.  The pilot in this case would not be able to see the car at all.  He would be sitting on the left side of the airplane, and anything approaching on the ground from the right would be out of his view.     

The local air strip I fly into has a road around the end, just like that one.  The road is used only by flyers to reach the back side of the runway.  There is a sign there as well, saying "Stop For Approaching Aircraft".  Only flyers use that road and they are aware that they are encroaching on the airspace at the end of the runway.  I don't come anywhere close to the end of the runway, but then I fly an Ultra Light, and can land in a matter of feet.  When I fly in there with Jim in his Super Cub, we don't come close to the end of the runway.  We sit down about the middle and stop within 100ft.  In Norm's Taylor Craft, we do come close to the road.  Norm lands a lot faster than Jim and I do.  When a loaded 206 comes in he is right down there almost touching down on the road.  He needs all the runway he can get.  There is a soft spot 2/3s of the way up the runway, and he wants to be slow before reaching that area.  During the winter when most planes are on skis, everyone lands close to the end of the runway.  Ski don't have brakes, you just coast to a stop.   


As both a flyer and a driver, I have to place all the blame on the driver.  The pilot was coming in to an area where he had the right of way over ground traffic.  The car was entering the plane's airspace by crossing at the end of an active runway.  Luckily, no one was seriously injured. 

[powderman]

ROG. What ya wanna bet the car driver was texting or on the cell?? POWDERMAN. 

[Sourdough]

I would not say that, possible but it's mostly young people that are testing and things like that.  I somehow get the feeling this is a middle aged or an older couple.  The driver just was not paying attention to what he was doing or where he was driving.  The woman in the SUV did not sound like a young person to me.  I may be wrong, but that was my take on it.

I see it all the time at Ft Wainwright.  The Flashing Red lights will be flashing, and a big C-17 will be coming in.  Plain view of the Huge plane coming from across the river.  Someone will blow thru the lights, and keeps going.  Suddenly their vehicle is rocked and the noise blast makes the driver and all passengers scream in fear.  The driver usually slams on the brakes and stops in the middle of the road.  Keep expecting to hear of someone having a heart attack out there when they look up and see the bottom of the aircraft so low.  I have actually had people blow their horns when I start slowing down for the flashing lights.  Then have them swerve out and pass me.  Some drivers are just plain stupid.

Ft Wainwright used to be Ladd AFB.  But in the early 60s the AF got the KC 135, a Boeing 707 converted to mid air refueling.  These planes took a lot of runway to take off and land.   Ladd's  runway was limited by the Chena River.  On the East end the river was flowing North, then the river turned West and again flowed past the runway on the West end flowing South.  So expanding the runway was not possible.  So the Air Force and the Army swapped bases.  The AF moved to 26 mile, and renamed it Eielson AFB.  The Army moved to Ladd AFB and renamed it Ft Wainwright, and Ladd Field to accommodate their choppers.  Eielson's runway was extended to a full three miles, needed by the new jet aircraft trying to land on icy runways.  But with today's newer more powerful jet engines, the big planes can once again land on Ladd Field, delivering supplies and equipment directly to the Army Post.  But due to the short runway the big planes need and use every bit of runway.  They are flying low and coming down fast as they pass the roadways on both ends of the runway.  Landing planes are bad enough to not want to drive under them as they land.  But to be on the roadway when one is taking off is beyond belief.  The noise and the pressure is almost more than the human body can take.  I've been out working on the lighting system at the end of the runway when a C-5 was taking off.  We were warned from the tower that the plane had been cleared for take-off, so we were prepared.  But still I did not like it.  No amount of hearing protection is enough.  Your whole body feels the noise and pressure.  Then the blast from the engines, is enough to knock you off your feet if you should be foolish enough to try and stand as the plane passes overhead.  If a C-17 should hit a car or truck as he came in at Ft WW the Pilot would never know it till after he landed.

[BBF]

If you ever have the chance to see Midway Airport right in Chicago you will see a large steel deflector system for the exhaust blast on one end of the runway.

[Defoe]

  Some drivers are just plain stupid.

yep,  out in the country where they have un-guarded RR crossings, I slow way down just in case.
people seem to be over-absorbed in other things instead of looking where they're going.