Flying can be a fun experience regardless of whether you’re the pilot or a passenger. But sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned, and an emergency landing is needed. As this excellent pilot demonstrates, if the plane can’t make it to an airport, a highway can sub for a runway in a pinch.
On Wednesday night, traffic cameras on I-35W in Arden Hills, Minnesota, captured a Bellanca Viking making an emergency landing. Via Twitter:
New video into the @wcco newsroom shows the plane landing on 35W last night and colliding with a vehicle! The State Patrol reported no injuries. pic.twitter.com/tkabShah3J
— Guy Still (@mplstvguy) December 3, 2020
The single-engine aircraft actually made a remarkably smooth landing on I35W. Unfortunately, the vehicle ahead didn’t (or couldn’t) get out of the way and the two vehicles made contact. Thankfully, there were no injuries reported.
The pilot was 52-year-old Craig Gifford, the Star Tribune reports. Gifford is a skilled pilot in the International Aerobatic Club, with thousands of hours in different general aviation aircraft. Check out his moves!
Gifford definitely knows how to make a plane move with a ballerina’s gracefulness.
A common myth around the internet is that the Interstate Highway System was built for situations like this. The reality is that the highways were not designed for the purpose of serving as makeshift runways. Keep in mind that an Interstate has a load of obstacles that a pilot must account for during a landing — not only traffic but bridges, signs and other structures.
Hopefully, Gifford’s plane isn’t too damaged and he can get back into the skies soon enough.