kaz3g Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Cessna makes emergency landing on Peninsula Link, Moorooduc by: Anthony Dowsley From:Herald Sun June 11, 20121:04PM THE pilot of a light plane said he had no choice but to land on a new freeway today because of fog. The Cessna touched down on the Peninsula Link in Moorooduc - about 68km southeast of Melbourne - just after noon. Pilot Russell Gray was in the air for about an hour with a mate when his alternative landing options in Moorabbin and Tooradin were also under heavy fog. The Rosebud man said he had no other option but to land on the tarmac of the new freeway, which is yet to open to traffic. "We were looking for an empty paddock that was dry but it wasn't worth the risk when there is a nice piece of gravel with no power lines," Mr Gray told the Herald Sun. Mr Gray, who has been flying since 1998, said the experience would not stop him flying again. The Cessna was forced to land on the Peninsula Link because of fog. Picture: Andrew Batsch Source: Leader Peninsula Aero Club secretary Jack Vevers said it was a textbook landing and the pilot did everything correct. "I guess this is one way of avoiding the tolls," he said. Farm owner Jason Fullerton told the Mornington Peninsula Leader he was pruning when he thought he heard a car “driving into the backyard”. “I looked up and saw the plane, it was dropping right down beside the house,” he said. An investigation is underway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howard Hughes Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 How he came to be in that situation in the first place! But not his subsequent actions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Precautionary landing due to extreme weather reads better than 2 die after entering IFR conditions. Handy to have that freeway to use and no problems getting back out. Nice to read about a positive out come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Howard is on the money - see the other thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnosuzie Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Obviously being a new trainee pilot, I did think to myself this morning I'm glad I hadn't booked a lesson. I fly from Tyabb where these two set off from and they landed about 5km from my house. The fog was low level and was around from dawn until about 2pm. My question would be, why did Tyabb let a VFR pilot take off in these conditions, as these conditions were across the peninsula. As a VFR pilot why would you take the risk? I am assuming he was a VFR and surely an IFR would have been able to locate the airfield? As I said, I am a trainee but even my common sense would have suggested cleaning the bird not flying it! Just an opinion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Moore Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Obviously being a new trainee pilot, I did think to myself this morning I'm glad I hadn't booked a lesson. I fly from Tyabb where these two set off from and they landed about 5km from my house.The fog was low level and was around from dawn until about 2pm. My question would be, why did Tyabb let a VFR pilot take off in these conditions, as these conditions were across the peninsula. As a VFR pilot why would you take the risk? I am assuming he was a VFR and surely an IFR would have been able to locate the airfield? As I said, I am a trainee but even my common sense would have suggested cleaning the bird not flying it! Just an opinion... Do not no where he took off from, might have been a clear day. It's nice looking highway, maybe he just wanted an excuse to try it out as a runway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Obviously being a new trainee pilot, I did think to myself this morning I'm glad I hadn't booked a lesson. I fly from Tyabb where these two set off from and they landed about 5km from my house.The fog was low level and was around from dawn until about 2pm. My question would be, why did Tyabb let a VFR pilot take off in these conditions, as these conditions were across the peninsula. As a VFR pilot why would you take the risk? I am assuming he was a VFR and surely an IFR would have been able to locate the airfield? As I said, I am a trainee but even my common sense would have suggested cleaning the bird not flying it! Just an opinion... And it's a very sound opinion, and a lesson which may set you up for a long life. This thing fouled up at the planning stage - I can't believe they didn't actually drive through the fog to get from Rosebud to Tyabb. You are quite correct, it definitely was not a day for flying. IFR is not just "we'll have a stab at the instruments for a while", it involves meticulous planning for minimum safe altitude, alternate landing site and so on, so I think we can safely say they weren't IFR. They also said they decided to land because they were nearly out of fuel .............just a few Nm from the home base..... Another salutory lesson for those who insist on only partially filling their tank for the flight time, and never allowing for a runway obstruction, or fog. As for congratulating them on having the skill to land on a two lane unused freeway - aaaaaargh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest turk182 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Reason for edit,,,decided against having an opinion Turk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 We will all come across situations where we take off in clear conditions, and without apparent warning fog rolls in and obscures the landscape making it impossible to navigate, or obscures our destination landing site. Although the Met forecast should give indications that fog may be or become present en route, the above situation could be considered accidental. What differentiates this incident is the massive blanket of fog over the outer southeast of Melbourne that morning. 20 minutes before they landed there was a tick blanket over the south eastern suburbs, and no aircraft at all in the Moorabbin Training Area which extends to the east past the north of Frankston. Where I was, around 500 metres west of where they landed, I'd been driving in fog for 20 minutes. Another poster on another site reported fog over Tooradin to the east. You couldn't really miss it on that day, even if you hadn't bothered with a forecast. Performance and Operations is a critical subject which forms part of training, but we certainly don't hear about it enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyerme Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 My old man lives just at the bottom of Aurthers seat(rosebud west) and he said the fog was there from first light,so surly they would have driven threw some fog? especially threw the farm area's between Rosey and Tyabb? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightyknots Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Howard is on the money - see the other thread It is here ~~~> http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/aircraft-lands-on-unopened-melbourne-freeway.40379/#post-222078 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brilin_air Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Interesting how the East had fog all day. Over the West we had the most perfect day. Nil wind and clear as. Late arvo we had it roll in about 5ish and it was like waves on a beach coming in with the tide, and by 7pm it was like Pea soup. Nice to see you got your face on the TV Jack!! -Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerin Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 My question would be, why did Tyabb let a VFR pilot take off in these conditions, as these conditions were across the peninsula. Because the safety of the flight, and the prior planning necessary to ensure this, is YOUR responsibility, as Pilot in Command. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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