Private Plane Makes Emergency Landing at Garberville Airport After Mayday Call
Around 4:20 p.m. this afternoon, scanner traffic indicated a plane was in trouble and needed to make an emergency landing on Highway 101.
Emergency transmissions stated a private plane would be making an emergency landing on Highway 101 south of the Salmon Creek exit. A representative for Garberville CHP confirmed they received a request to shut down Highway 101 for an emergency plane landing following a mayday call from the pilot. However, as the plane approached the pilot relayed that they were going to attempt to glide to the Garberville Airport.
Emergency personnel were requested to prepare for an emergency landing at the Garberville Airport.
Scanner traffic at 4:30 p.m. indicated the plane safely landed at the Garberville Airport.
Additional details were revealed in a phone interview with Sergeant Taylor of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
Sergeant Taylor reported that the pilot, who was the sole occupant of a Cessna plane, contacted the sheriff’s office by phone, indicating that his engine was cutting out and he was unsure if he could reach the Garberville Airport. The pilot stated that a freeway landing may be necessary.
HCSO personnel contacted allied agencies to plan for an emergency landing on Highway 101 and dispatched HCSO deputies to the proposed landing site. However, the pilot recontacted emergency personnel stating he could make it to the airport on Sprowl Creek Road just west of Garberville.
Sergeant Taylor stated the plane landed without incident. Deputies responded to the airport, where they made contact with the pilot who did not need additional assistance.
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These “false alarm situations ” probly save more lives than we can ever know. Those people died on the Baltimore Bridge needed 4 minutes. Glad we have coordinated resources responding to…..
WOW
Good job
Back in the day a passenger would have been sent to the back of the plane to get rid of the pot bales.
Or just throw the passenger out to save weight and get better mileage.
420 emergency landing in Gville! Still a pretty good place for a late afternoon break.
Good deal. I’m happy the pilot made it down without incident. 👍
South Salmon Creek to Sprowl Creek is a mighty long way to glide, especially to land in Garberville from the north, described by other pilots as a ‘carrier landing’
I think he had the engine er… kinda… ‘partly running’.
Someday, somebody’s going to find that Aero Commander that went missing down in Southern Humboldt… long ago.
Any more details? i haven’t heard about that one
Glide ratio for a Cessna is typically 16:1, meaning that for every foot of altitude lost you will make 16 feet forward progress. So, engine out at 5,000 feet above ground level, you have about 16 miles glide path before landing.
Seems like the pilot is a true professional. Glad they made it to safety. I could not fly in a single engine plane, because I am too scared from an experience I had in a twin engine plane when one of the engine went out. Anyone catch the tail number?
Look at it this way; A twin has twice the chance of something wrong.
That’s what I liked about the B-52. When you have 8 engins… if one ir two went out it was no big deal! 🙂
Sounds like the pilot had a lot of air hours and was skilled at he was trying to do. Sure was nice he landed safely. He was lucky that his engine did not quit over an area with no landing zone. Time for a new plane with one of those pop out parachutes that will gently lower the plane to the ground, trees, etc., without kill the ones onboard.