There’s a lot of crossover between people who are into race cars and people who are into small planes. While I’ve never flown a plane, I can see why people would enjoy both. There’s a certain freedom to driving on a track. No lanes to adhere to, no stop signs, no cyclists to worry about. I can only imagine flying is a lot like that, except with another axis of direction to play with.
Usually, flying and driving don’t mix. But they did on Saturday when a pilot of a 1968 Cessna 172K going from Hudson Valley Regional Airport in New York to Dillant/Hopkins Airport in New Hampshire experienced a mechanical failure and had to make an emergency landing at Lime Rock Park, a race track in Northwestern Connecticut. There was a track day going on hosted by Burnout Motorsport at the time, but somehow no one was seriously injured.
According to a statement put out by Lime Rock, the plane fell out of the sky at around 1 p.m. Eastern time. The pilot likely aimed for the small straightaway between the Uphill (turn 5) and West Bend (turn 6) as a landing strip, though judging by photos of the aftermath and video of the plane right before it touched down, it seems the plane landed on the infield skidpad and got caught up in some wire fencing.
As far as emergency landings go, this is pretty impressive. Take a look for yourself:
After catching the fencing, the plane crashed into the wrong side of the metal Armco barrier before coming to a stop at Turn 6. The pilot was uninjured, while the only other occupant, a passenger, suffered minor injuries. Because there was a track day going on, there was already an emergency response crew on site, which rendered aid. The passenger was transported to the hospital for observation and treatment.
Considering it just went through a whole-ass crash-landing, the Cessna looked to be in pretty good shape, too. Aside from one of the wheels being torn off and a big dent on the lower part of the nose, the plane seems largely undamaged. Of course, whatever broke in the air will need fixing, too. Having done countless laps at Lime Rock in the past, seeing an airplane just sitting on the inside of West Bend is incredibly surreal.
Joe Alicata was participating in the track day with his 996-generation Porsche 911 and was about to go out onto the circuit when the chaos broke out.
“We were all beginning to merge onto the track,” he told me over the phone. “I was midfield, and still in the paddock, and all of a sudden I look in my mirror, and there are guys jumping around, black flags waving. I’m like, ‘What the heck?’ And EMS takes off in front of me. I’m like, ‘What the hell happened?’ We were in pit lane, and I went into the paddock. At that point, someone’s like, ‘A plane crashed.’ I’m like, what are you talking about, ‘A plane crashed?’”
“Apparently, everyone was watching this plane and then heard the engine die,” Alicata said. “Everyone had said he was trying to land on the skidpad, which makes sense when you look at that video. You can see he came in over the skipad and went too far, and took out the barriers.”
The plane is registered to a company called Wings Over Texas Holdings LLC, though the pilot hasn’t been identified. Lime Rock says the incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Connecticut State Police. Our resident pilot, Mercedes Streeter, tells me a road is actually one of the last places you’d want to make an emergency landing, since you can’t predict traffic, power lines, or other infrastructure until you’re very close to the ground. A race track is a bit different, presumably, since it’s a more controlled environment. Personally, I think the pilot made the right call (and got incredibly lucky).
Photos published by Lime Rock Part to Facebook on Sunday show the plane being loaded onto a trailer and taken away:
This isn’t the first time a plane has made an emergency landing at a race track. The most famous such incident happened back in 1983, when an Air Canada flight carrying 69 people ran out of fuel and decided to land at Gimli Motorsport Park in Manitoba, a race track an hour north of Winnipeg. Luckily, Gimli used to be a Royal Canadian Air Force base and retains much of its original design, so it was able to accommodate the Boeing 767’s unscheduled session on track.
Next time I’m at a track day, I’ll be sure to keep one eye in the sky. While the chances an airplane will overtake me from above are small, they’re never zero.
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
The post Miracle At Turn 6: Pilot Makes Emergency Landing At Historic Race Track appeared first on The Autopian.
