Pilot Posts Self-Induced Off-Airport Landing Video

The following was in my e mail this morning.

Complacency has no place in soaring" are the words Larry Hockensmith uses to open a brief description of a video that ends with him crashing a Schweizer 1-26 into a row of mailboxes and a few trash cans ... and they're also the point. Hockensmith, a student glider pilot and 40-year licensed power pilot, posted the video to YouTube with a simple message. "I was trained better than to have lingered on the lee-side of a ridge over rough terrain," he writes. "The dramatic outlanding was due to my actions exclusively." He says he has shared the video with his instructor, the FAA and the NTSB and those interactions have helped grow his skills. He also says there's more to come and issues a challenge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKVmLg5cEPk

I think that he did a pretty good job after putting himself in a bad situation.

That was a good landing. My dad ditched one in a farmers field. Thought he'd get an ass chewing. Insead he got lunch and a free tow. Very nice farmer.

Damn mailboxes. Don't they know someone might have to land a plane.

I thought for sure he was going to clip a tree on his final turn. That would have been ugly.

Wow, thank god there were no cars, because I'm pretty sure nobody would be able to handle that situation.

I'm glad everything came out ok.

I think I would have looked closer at the open field on pilot's left before choosing the road but that's the armchair quarterback speaking.

If only he had a motor!

Looks like a favorable outcome to a bad situation. Was the plane able to be repaired? Landing in the ditch like that it seems that there may be massive hidden airframe damage. The wings I know are removeable and could be replaced.

triumph7 wrote: I think I would have looked closer at the open field on pilot's left before choosing the road but that's the armchair quarterback speaking.

I was looking at that too but he was going pretty fast at that point (for a sailplane landing), he probably would have ended up in the trees on the far side.

I realize that it was a crash landing, but that was pretty impressive.

triumph7 wrote: I think I would have looked closer at the open field on pilot's left before choosing the road but that's the armchair quarterback speaking.

Often, open fields aren't. Think Evo on the rocks.

slantvaliant wrote:

triumph7 wrote: I think I would have looked closer at the open field on pilot's left before choosing the road but that's the armchair quarterback speaking.

Often, open fields aren't. Think Evo on the rocks.

True, but if you think about a glider's wingspan most roads are not a good choice. A 172 or such probably would have made it on that road. As far as being fast and high he could have made a circling approach (I would think) assuming the field was clear (hard to tell in the video).

Seems like he made a pretty good choice considering.

A prime mistake during an emergency landing (in my opinion) is to have ANY concern with damaging the aircraft. F the plane, do what you have to do to get down safe. Landing between two trees (ripping the wings off) is a very good example of what might be a good choice.

Many pilots have died or been injured trying "make the airport" only to fall short when there were very survivable options near by. Another example is trying to land a plane with a stuck gear and catching a wing and cartwheeling in when the could have just pulled up the the other gears and belly landed.

I can't imagine what kind of adrenalized 'oh E36 M3' pucker moment it is to realize that you have just a few seconds to pick some spot on the ground, aim your airplane at it, and hope for the best. Good job, sir.

In reply to nderwater:

The owner of the first airplane that I flew professionally taught me that when you pull on to the runway pick the best spot to crash, if everything goes to hell quickly, it is one less thing to think about when dealing with an emergency. I do it instictively now wether I am flying or driving.

triumph7 wrote:

slantvaliant wrote:

triumph7 wrote: I think I would have looked closer at the open field on pilot's left before choosing the road but that's the armchair quarterback speaking.

Often, open fields aren't. Think Evo on the rocks.

True, but if you think about a glider's wingspan most roads are not a good choice. A 172 or such probably would have made it on that road. As far as being fast and high he could have made a circling approach (I would think) assuming the field was clear (hard to tell in the video).

When I took flight lessons as a teenager, my instructor always had me look for fields to land in during simulated engine failure because of power lines over roads are sometimes hard to see. But then again, this was Texas, and there were cow pastures EVERYWHERE.

Really impresses me that the guy not only takes full responsibility, but spreads the story to remind others. Doesn't "Flying" magazine (if they're still around) have a guest column named "I Learned About Flying From That." where pilots share tales like this?

aircooled wrote: Landing between two trees (ripping the wings off) is a very good example of what might be a good choice.

I am not a pilot (so feel free to correct me), but as I understand it, this is actually a PREFERRED method in a lot of situations.

The fuel tanks are in the wings. Ripping them off with 2 trees is a perfectly good decision when crash landing.

I know someone who survived a pretty bad crash by doing that exact thing. It was 3 days before they found him, but he was alive, and the fuel had been safely separated from the cockpit during the crash.

aircooled wrote: Seems like he made a pretty good choice considering. A prime mistake during an emergency landing (in my opinion) is to have ANY concern with damaging the aircraft. F the plane, do what you have to do to get down safe. Landing between two trees (ripping the wings off) is a very good example of what might be a good choice. Many pilots have died or been injured trying "make the airport" only to fall short when there were very survivable options near by. Another example is trying to land a plane with a stuck gear and catching a wing and cartwheeling in when the could have just pulled up the the other gears and belly landed.

+1

Losing altitude with no power is not the time to stretch it. The plane needs to go down with as gentle of turns as you can muster. Making the airport or that bigger field just over there is a recipe for disaster.