Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Airplane Makes Forced Landing on Interstate

https://wlos.com/news/local/interst...rt-detour-fire-faa-ntsb-buncombe-county#

This guy was flying from Myrtle Beach SC, to Knoxville. He would have flown right over Asheville. He was experiencing engine trouble with smoke in the cabin, and he headed to to the Asheville airport for an emergency landing. The pilot decided to land on I-26, just a few miles from the airport. The interstate was very busy. It was 8:15 pm, pitch black dark. One wing hit the back of the trailer of an 18 wheeler as he landed. The airplane caught fire and burned up. No civilians were hurt.

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BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — One westbound lane and both eastbound lanes of Interstate 26 reopened Friday morning after a small plane crashed between Long Shoals and Airport roads Thursday night.

Traffic began moving in the eastbound lanes just after 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 15. One westbound land reopened around 10:15 a.m., but NCDOT says one lane will stay closed for pavement repairs.


The closure impacted the morning commute on roadways surrounding the closure, with NCDOT sharing a snapshot showing slowed traffic on Hendersonville, Brevard, and Long Shoals roads.


A spokesperson for the FAA says a single-engine Diamond DA-40 crashed near Asheville Regional Airport at around 8:15 p.m. on Dec. 14 with two people on board. Authorities said they escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.


DEC. 14, 2023 - An Asheville Regional Airport spokesperson said a plane reported problems and said it needed assistance. It then landed on the interstate between Long Shoals and Airport roads.

According to air traffic control audio from LiveATC.Net, the plane's occupants first reported problems with oil pressure and engine failures.

"We're losing all engine power," one of the plane's occupants said. "Looks like, honestly, with our best glide, we're probably not going to make it."
The plane's occupants could be heard telling the tower they would probably have to put down on the freeway.

According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the plane hit power lines that cross I-26, and one wing hit a tractor-trailer as it landed on the interstate.



"Plane is on the ground and the two passengers made it out before it caught on fire," the tower said.

Viewer video showed the fiery aftermath of the crash, which shut down the interstate and snarled traffic for hours.

Plane down on I-26 viewer videos

The NCDOT shared an image of utility crews working to repair power lines damaged in the crash.

Diamond DA40 Diamond Star






The Diamond DA40 Diamond Star is an Austrian four-seat, single-engine, light aircraft constructed from composite materials. Built in both Austria and Canada, it was developed as a four-seat version of the earlier DA20 by Diamond Aircraft Industries.

By the end of December 2020, 2,200 DA40s had been delivered, including 500 NG models.[1]


The DA40-XL has a constant speed propeller and is powered by a 180 hp (130 kW) Lycoming IO-360-M1A fuel injected engine. It has a maximum cruise speed of 147 kn (272 km/h; 169 mph), burning 9.2 gallons of Avgas per hour. Its maximum takeoff weight is 2,535 lb (1,150 kg).[9]


Operational history
The DA40 has accumulated a very low accident record, particularly with regard to stall and spin accidents. Its overall and fatal accident rates are one-eighth that of the general aviation fleet and include no stall-related accidents.


Base price for the DA40 NG is around $430,000, versus $390,000 for the DA40 XLT when last Diamond offered it,

Any time you walk away from a forced landing and contact with a semi, you got really lucky.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why anybody would utilize a highway, or any busy road for that matter for an emergency landing.

You would if you ever experienced an emergency in an airplane…..

What better options did this pilot have?

I 26 there, south of Asheville, is in a valley between the Blue Ridge Mountains. Very heavily forested. The pilot could have crashed into the forest, or crashed in the parking lot of a shopping mall, or put it down in the French Broad River [hard to see at night], or, landed on the interstate.

Do you have a suggestion for a better place for him to land in such a situation?

You must have better night vision than most.I can do wonders in the cub during the day. Not so much when everything’s black.

Glad they made it.

Somewhere I have heard "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." Sounds like a good landing...

Gotta do what you gotta do….

Good friend of mine had to put down on the interstate. He crashed and burned:(

Of course there was a semi in the way. Probably in the fuggin left lane.

And you wonder why I don’t fly single engine piston planes at night…..

I like short night flights but hate cross country in a single engine at night. Crossing huge areas of black nothingness doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy.

IF there’s a chance I’ll need to land at night coming home from a X/C I’ll go out and get night current before we depart so I’ll be legal but I’ll deal with getting SWMBO up at dawn to avoid it.

Because your taught to if there's nothing else, atleast I was in ground school.
I had to land on the whidbey island naval base in the late 80's on my long cross country engine started spittin and spurting and I smelled gas at 5500' right over the base just above there air space.

And having landed at KNUW quite a few times over my career I hope they greeted you and you had a beer at the club. 😁( stationed there from 88-95)