Alaska Highway Takeoff

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Happy_Boiled_Peanut@reddit

I swear bush pilots operate under different rules of physics than the rest of us, and...of course they flew under the power lines.

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old_flying_fart@reddit

Distance between the ground and wires is greater than between the trees and wires...so go for the greater clearance.

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Google tells me the word bush came into the English language through Dutch. Their word was Bosch, meaning woods/forest. The Brits in Australia adopted the term when they colonized the territory and used it to describe wild and undeveloped interior far from settlements. After WWI, surplus aircraft were used in Alaska and Canada to reach isolated areas, patrol for forest fires, and supply mining camps.

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Duckbilling2@reddit

I just think about if every small plane could land at 35ktas and sub 300 feet on rough terrain it'd be so much safer.

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mikasjoman@reddit

The airplane I practice on does. Sila 450c

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Noah-777@reddit

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Malcolm2theRescue@reddit

Yikes, flying through wires toward mountain and trees. I have this nightmare!

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SLLTO@reddit

Lifestyle of the rich

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Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit

"He's going to have to bank pretty hard into the threes to avoid those powe-OOHHH MY GOD!!!"

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-ElGallo-@reddit

I'm assuming that's legal but feel like it shouldn't be

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hughk@reddit

Emergency services are present and it seems the road has been closed. I would say the take off is officially blessed.

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Friendly-Chipmunk-23@reddit

I don’t think he cares if it’s legal

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nutellatime@reddit

It's Alaska, flight rules are... different there.

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agha0013@reddit

It's like my short stint flying in Northern Ontario.

Rules.. who is going to enforce them?

Flying in almost zero visibility, skimming just below the thick clouds and heavy icing conditions in a grand caravan for an hour, watching the wheels almost touch tree tops, with more passengers than seats..... white knuckles the whole time.

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ARottenPear@reddit

Sounds like you almost got enforced by the universe there. Or Darwin.

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agha0013@reddit

Was not my choice I was just sitting in the right seat and told to keep an eye on trees and the ice buildup

That operation, from what I can tell, is no longer around but there are plenty of others that do the same crazy stuff

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Euhn@reddit

heck a lot dont even have a license

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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rabidantidentyte@reddit

Better than landing on the turnagain mud flats

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phatRV@reddit

It is legal to land on the highway when flying in Alaska. I also remember airplanes have right of way there. They even have training how to land on the highway for Alaskan pilots.

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CySnark@reddit

Gives new meaning to the device: Radar Detector

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-ElGallo-@reddit

I mean more of the taking off part in those tight quarters

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GoodGoodGoody@reddit

Any number of good reasons to land on a highway in Alaska.

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Tommy84@reddit

Alaska is different.

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Longjumping_College@reddit

The guy picked a takeoff route... under power lines

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FolderOfArms@reddit

I was not expecting the immediate right turn. But actually when you look at it, it was probably a more expedient route out of a tight corner than the extended curving climb between the trees and pylons. The landing must have been fun.

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crooks4hire@reddit

Plane emergency landed with engine trouble. I’m less concerned about power lines and more about the fact that the plane is taking off in the direction of emergency vehicles. Maybe it’s just the perspective of the vid?

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boilerdam@reddit

My thoughts exactly... until they zoomed out and the lake came into view, made a lot more sense. Till then, I was wondering if this was a clip of a crash into a tree

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Cadet_BNSF@reddit

Pretty sure that’s along turnagain arm

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Xbghdhh@reddit

Correct! So not a lake, but mile 93 is just a few miles north of Girdwood, there’s a good straight stretch just north of Girdwood if the pilot had enough height to make it there, but then it gets real curvy for awhile until you get into Anchorage. The fact the pilot was able to put it down and take back off with the curves, trees, guardrails, and power lines to all consider is impressive airmanship

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pdxnormal@reddit

I sat at the end of Girdwood strip for at least 15” once idling and waiting for a clear spot in snow squall to see far enough down the valley to line up with the opening to that road. Gave up and swept a foot of snow off the wings the next morning.

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deltajvliet@reddit

There's a line from Greenland, the Gerard Butler movie. "Well that's new information." And try as we might to make it catch on, the opportunity never arises. Until now.

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pdxnormal@reddit

There is a river to the right. Flat “terrain”. Although this was unusual because of the presence of flashing lights it is still done where the road is the best landing/takeoff spot.

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yobob591@reddit

I've met a few fighter pilots who have told me that they think bush pilots are crazy. Bush pilots are crazy.

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outlaw99775@reddit

The pylons are pretty damn tall too, lots of room under them.

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Calm-Frog84@reddit

I once made an outlanding in a glider under a power line (was under the powerline in the vicinity of end flare/touchdown), after detecting the initial field I intended to land in was not suitable due to uneven ground + other alternatives were shorter fields that should have been OK but with no comfortable margins.

Sometimes it is the safest option, and honestly, depending of height and obstacles it may be technically quite easy. In the end it is a matter of awareness, risk assessment and being within the boundaries of the set of skills you assess yourself as proficient.

I'm much more worried about wires not seen/undetected than the ones that are close and taken care of.

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smokie12@reddit

Into fog, nonetheless

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PropOnTop@reddit

That's to test the electronics.

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SproketRocket@reddit

well on that highway, the left side is steep mountains. Getting out means going right.

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I_Am_Zampano@reddit

Gotta stay that low due to the freezing clouds being right above the power lines

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gromm93@reddit

Pretty sure he had to emergency land there first, "fix" the engine (ie, put gas in it), and then this was about the only way you can get the airplane back out of there again.

Could have picked better weather though.

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sfbiker999@reddit

Doesn't look like he'd have cleared the trees if he couldn't make the turn over the lake, so the power lines and power poles probably didn't matter.

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Likesdirt@reddit

That's Turnagain Arm. 30' tides and sometimes a surfable bore tide. Very busy water.

The water runs over "mudflats" that really are the quicksand from the comic books - people die out there despite the signs. 30 foot tides and buried waist deep.

I guess he was pretty confident in the fix - no second chances on this one.

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nametaken420@reddit

im guessing thats cook inlet and not a lake.

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cazzipropri@reddit

I bet he knows why he did that.

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ForsakenRacism@reddit

Those power line are like minutes aWay

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Renting_Bourbon@reddit

Looks to me like the high tension lines parallel the curving path of the highway on viewers right side. Not exactly the perfect runway.

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ForsakenRacism@reddit

I live there your right. But that’s what bush pilots do lmao

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YourMomsBasement69@reddit

But how fAr?

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ForsakenRacism@reddit

200 yards 😂

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motor1_is_stopping@reddit

He didn't really PICK the takeoff spot. He just dealt with what he had.

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opteryx5@reddit

On the road to Wrangell-St. Elias NP, I remember seeing one house where you literally have to row across a small lake to access, every single time. There were also houses where being a pilot was pretty much required to live there because the road can be too treacherous in the winter.

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outlaw99775@reddit

I got a flat on the way to McCarthy, we walked up to a place that had a tire repair sign and the guy gave me an air compressor so I could fill up my tire and limp over to his shop. On the way back I saw a plane take off and told my wife I thought it was the guy who was going to fix our tire. I thought about it for a second and said "no way, that's a dumb thought"

Well, we got to the shop and he is nowhere to be seen. We waited about an hour tell his little purple plane lands on his private runway/road. He gets out and apologizes, saying he went to pick up a friend who was sheep hunting and it took longer than expected because he couldn't find him for a bit.

Anyway, he fixed our tire for free since we had to wait. 😂

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Jazzlike_Climate4189@reddit

What an amazing experience though!

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GilBang@reddit

I met a couple...he's an airline pilot. They bought a place that is fly-in only. He's teaching the wife how to fly in case he ever falls ill and she needs to fly them out of there.

They keep their airplane hangared in Anchorage. They fly commercial to Anchorage, hop in their airplane, and then head to their house. In the winter, he flies the personal airplane home to PHX, to save on hanger fees, and to fly around the Southwest.

Nice life for them. But they both carry guns between the airplane and the house because of wildlife.

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VanillaTortilla@reddit

Their mosquitos certainly are

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boilerdam@reddit

Bush pilots are different-er!

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phatRV@reddit

Marginal weather, limited runway, overhead power line, planes with engine problem. Good enough to fly

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AggressorBLUE@reddit

Visibility was a New Jersey 3 but an Alaska 10.

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thabc@reddit

In the Swiss cheese model, this is a pipe.

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bitemy@reddit

He also didn't even try to use all of the available "runway" length. Might have been IFR conditions, too. Alaska pilots are a different breed.

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binaryplayground@reddit

In a scenario like this, where cops have to block off the road/highway from regular traffic… do pilots incur a fine or fee?

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skyfaring55@reddit

Surprised they had police escort. Northern country they just land when they want

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7stroke@reddit

A;asks: they can’t take my license if I never had one!

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Accidentallygolden@reddit

Who needs straight runways?

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pretty_jimmy@reddit

"that doesn't look like enough roo... oh wait...those are bush tires and this is Alaska, it's gonna take off within 8 feet of travel"

and sure enough, that it did.

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MapleMapleHockeyStk@reddit

I freaking love those things! Alaska has different physics i swear....

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Crazy__Donkey@reddit

Instead, they decided to take off from the middle of the highway.

with the aid of police to block the traffic

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shewel_item@reddit

if only flying was more like this, huh

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Spin737@reddit

Looks like near Alyeska.

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NoDeedUnpunished@reddit

probably mad the Bird House was closed.

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Katana_DV20@reddit

Launching into that soup with a sketchy engine. Hmmm.

He rolled the dice, and this time it was in his favour. Glad it worked out.

But you know what they say about pushing risk in flying:

Keep knocking on the Devil's door - and one day he will answer

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bitemy@reddit

I'm not sure if it would be better or worse if his emergency landing was caused by running out of fuel.

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the_silent_redditor@reddit

Immediately what I thought.

I wonder what the nature of the engine issue was? Seems insane to just fucking send it lmao.

Also, weather looks fucking awful but then, also also, Alaska sooo..

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Renting_Bourbon@reddit

There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. They’re few old, bold pilots.

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dampforeskin@reddit

As soon as I saw those big ol fat tires I knew they were clearing too much space for it. Dem sumbitch bush planes can lift off a 20ft flatbed.

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winstonalonian@reddit

Reminds me of this. Badd asss

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/s/2DdwHrbcg8

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PirateyDude@reddit

Very common for Alaskans...used to be one an seen this regularly...it's how alot of them refuel for long distance trips...☠️

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United-Trainer7931@reddit

Everything about this looks insanely dangerous even with enough takeoff space. No chance I’d ever willingly be in a plane taking off on a highway, in bad weather, pointed directly at tall trees, with the only safe departure route being under power lines held up by poles that are also in your way.

It’s Alaska though so it’s all safe.

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Cambren1@reddit

The old under the wires departure.

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nparker13@reddit

Cleared for takeoff highway heading climb and maintain 30 ft

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albravo2@reddit

I don't know about AK but it is totally legal and not completely uncommon to land and take off from a highway in BC.

Without a bunch of police cars.

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Rmstream10@reddit

Thats insane

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cazzipropri@reddit

Yeah, that's ~~not~~ very typical, I'd like to make that point.

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LetsGoHawks@reddit

My Uncle had to make an emergency landing on a highway after his prop broke mid-flight. He parked the plane in someone's front yard until he got the part and fixed it. Then he had to get special permission from the FAA and coordinate with law enforcement to block the highway while he took off, which ended up on the evening news.

When asked if he was scared during the landing: "Nope. It was the same as any other landing, I just couldn't do a go around, which I haven't had to do in about 40 years anyway."

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After making a successful emergency landing on the Seward Highway due to engine trouble, this pilot didn't call for a truck. Instead, they decided to take off from the middle of the highway.

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