Landing a Plane without an Engine

 

Dr. John Davis provided the program last Wednesday, describing his unplanned plane landing without an engine. Dr. Davis was flying his six seater plane from Kerrville to Ruidoso, New Mexico, a few weeks ago, with his wife Billie as his passenger. About 2 1/2 hours into the three hour flight, he heard a loud noise and experienced power loss in the engine. After a short period of time, the engine stopped completely, and he considered his options. The Roswell airport was about seventeen miles away and his best bet was to try to land the plane at that airport. Although gliding, the plane was dropping at 1,300 feet per minute, about twice the normal rate of decent. As he approached the airport, he realized he wasn't going to make the runway, and surveyed the area, noting that there were no fences, power lines, gullies or cows in the path where he would land.  He glided the plane down, the wheels bounced a couple of times on the bumpy high plains, and finally made firm contact as he successfully rolled his plane to a stop three miles from the runway.

 

After some appreciative hugs with Billie, and appropriate thanks, they noticed some curious cows approaching to see what had landed in their pasture. They managed to have the plane carefully loaded on a flat bed tow truck , and slowly made their way to the airport. They eventually made it by car to their destination in Ruidoso.  The plane engine is being rebuilt, but in the meantime, he has already flown again, and felt comfortable doing so.