Happy Landing with Father in Law
Vince Fraser, 31, who has less than 100 hours of flight time, lost power to the engine of his 1967 Aero Commander single-engine plane. Vince and his father-in-law were on a trip to look at a property they wanted to purchase in North Carolina near Fontana Lake. After viewing at the property, Fraser attempted to fly out of the lake basin to return to the airport. The plane then lost power. “As I started climbing, the aircraft just sort of stopped climbing,” he said. “I had to pitch down more to keep the airspeed.” Trying to remain calm, he went through a checklist of steps needed to restart the engine in case of a failure. It started. Fraser said it took a few moments for his father-in-law to realize it wasn’t a prank. “He looked at me and said, ‘Just do whatever you can. Do what you can do. I trust you,’” Fraser remembered. As he scanned the landscape for a place to land, Fraser quickly realized there wasn’t an opening to set the plane down. The terrain was covered in dense woods, which also obscured any small roads he could have used as a runway in the area. “There’s just nowhere to land,” he said. That’s when the aircraft stalled. Fraser went through the checklist, starting the plane’s engine for the second time. A few minutes later, the plane’s engine shut down again. Fraser ran through his checklist, and the plane’s engine started for the final time. It would not start again.
With hope fading, Fraser said he looked to his father-and-law and apologized for putting him in danger. “I told him I was sorry, and that I loved him. From there on out, it’s just a commitment,” he said. “Let’s see what’s going to happen. Let’s do this the best we can.” As he scanned the terrain for a spot to land the plane, Fraser says he noticed a bridge in the distance. “I’m going for the river. I’m lining up perfectly for the river, and I look to my left, and there’s Highway 19. You couldn’t see it before because of all the valleys and the mountains and the trees, but it just appears,” he said. He says the plane had just enough elevation to land on the road. “Now we’re headed to Highway 19. I see powerlines. I see cars, curves, trees, hills. I have no other option. This is the only and best option for us right now,” he said. Fraser flew the plane under power lines and approached the highway. He pointed the plane’s nose down to pick up speed, passing cars underneath in the process. The cars behind him had slowed down. People were soon gathering around his plane, which came to a rest safely on the highway — and directly in front of a stop sign. The entire ordeal, from start to finish, was over in about three minutes, he said, after later viewing the video footage of the flight he captured with a GoPro camera (linked below). “Now when I give him a hug, I actually embrace him,” Fraser said. “I don’t know that it’s changed our love for each other, but it has definitely made it stronger.”
Happy Landings Humor
What is the difference between a pessimist and an optimist?
A pessimist made the seatbelts; an optimist built the airplane.
Bought a new plane the other day. Disappointed that they wouldn’t let me keep the hangar.
A small plane with an instructor and student on board hit the runway and bounced repeatedly until they came to a stop. The instructor said, “that was a very bad landing you just made.” “Me?” replied the student, “I thought you were landing it.”
As Biden flew on Air Force one to Saudi the plane had to make an emergency landing in Paris after alleged engine failure over the Atlantic. The ground traced in down, it turns out there was just a loud whining coming from the left wing.
July 11th Birthdays
1965 – Cassi Davis, 1954 – Mindi Sterling, 1956 – Sela Ward, 2000 – Samantha Fekete
1991 – Connor Paolo, 1971 – Justin Chambers, 1995 – Joey Bosa 1920 – Yul Brynner