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Mooney Hits Car During Emergency Highway Landing

Pilot, passenger and car driver escape unscathed

David Gowan, a 57-year-old Mooney M20K pilot from North Dakota, had just reached 1,000 feet after taking off from Minnesota’s Hawley Municipal Airport on Tuesday when his engine quit.

Searching for a landing spot, he spotted a clear area on Highway 10 and brought the airplane down. After touching down, however, the Mooney caught up with a Ford Fusion traveling eastbound, striking it in the rear and leaving deep propeller cuts along its side.

The driver, who said she saw the plane approaching her vehicle in the rear-view mirror, drove into a ditch after being hit by the Mooney. Neither the driver nor the pilot or passenger in the airplane were injured.

The Mooney had fueled up before leaving Hawley Municipal. Investigators tested the fuel after the accident and found no anomalies.

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