On the Way to 69G

Peter Garrison

Wednesday, June 03, 2009 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot died attempting a forced landing at a small, distant airport after an engine failure, overlooking safer, more accessible alternatives like highways or open fields closer to the initial power loss.
The NTSB cited unsuitable terrain selection and an inadequate approach; the author suggests the pilot's primary error was prioritizing the "nearest airport" over clearly superior emergency landing options.
A significant contributing factor to the crash was the propeller being found in a low-pitch (high RPM) setting, which severely degraded the aircraft's glide performance.

See a mistake? Contact us.

In June 2006 a Beech B36TC Bonanza, fresh out of annual inspection, lost power while cruising at 5,000 feet on the way from Kalamazoo to Ypsilanti, Michigan. Although conditions were day VMC, the 950-hour pilot had filed an IFR flight plan. He advised the controller of the situation and asked for a vector to the nearest airport.

The controller provided a vector to Carriage Lane, near Gregory, about 30 miles northwest of Ann Arbor. Gregory is a microscopic rural community, and Carriage Lane airport is proportionately tiny; besides, its 1,700-foot turf runway can barely be distinguished from its surroundings. A couple of minutes later, the controller offered another airport: Richmond, 69G, a couple of miles southwest of Carriage Lane. The runway there was turf as well, and equally well camouflaged; but at least it was 2,471 feet long and it was slightly closer.