William Daltons' vliegavontuur
Op 4 april j.l. zijn Johnny (bedrijfsleider) en ik naar Fresno gevlogen omdat daar een paar vrienden wonen. Na enig zoeken hadden we hun huis vanuit de lucht gevonden. Vanuit het vliegtuig wilden we ze bellen dat we over hun huis vlogen, maar ze waren niet thuis. Omdat het al enigzins donker begon te worden besloten we om maar om te draaien en naar Visalia terug te vliegen. Maar Johnny moest nog eerst even pissen dus zijn we in Fresno op een open stuk land midden in een nieuwbouwwijk geland. Er kwamen toen allemaal mensen naar ons toe om te vragen wat er gebeurt was. "We moesten even pissen" hebben we toen gezegd.
We zijn daarna weer ingestapt om weer op te stijgen. Maar het veld was vrij los en we konden geen snelheid maken om van de grond te komen. Aan de andere kant van het veld was een kanaaltje en daar zijn we maar gestopt. Wij weer uit het vliegtuig om te kijken hoe we aan de andere kant van het kanaaltje konden komen omdat daar een grasveld was van waaraf we konden opsteigen. Maar toen kwam dus de politie eraan om te vragen wat er aan de hand was. We konden natuurlijk niet zeggen dat we waren geland om te pissen, dus heeft Johnny maar gezegd dat het vliegtuigje oververhit was. Ook de brandweer kwam nog kijken omdat blijkbaar iemand gebeld had dat er brand was. Iedereen was heel bezorgd omdat ze dus dachten dat we een noodlanding hadden gemaakt. De politie had de hele straat afgezet en er waren minstens 5 politiewagens. Ook kwamen er 4 cameraploegen aanzetten van lokale stations die even verslag kwamen doen van deze (hoge)noodlanding. We hebben even een paar interviewtjes weggegeven.
Ondertussen had de politie het één en ander uitgezocht en zei dat de volgende dag (het was al donker) het vliegtuig op een vrachtwagen weggehaald moest worden. Johnny en ik zijn toen naar het huis van vrienden gelopen en hebben onszelf bekeken op televisie (4 verschillende stations). Daarna ben ik naar huis gebracht en is Johnny daar gebleven.
De volgende morgen heeft Johnny heel vroeg samen met de vrienden het vliegtuig op het fietspad getrokken vlak bij het veldje. Vanaf daar is hij opgestegen en naar huis gevlogen. Het hele gebeuren stond twee dagen in de krant. Eén artikel over de landing en één over het opsteigen de volgende morgen. Er werden behoorlijk veel grappen over ons gemaakt omdat veel mensen wel wisten dat we geland zijn om te pissen en dat het geen echte noodlanding was.
Artikel uit The Fresno Bee over de landing.
|
fresnobee.com 2 unscathed after emergency landing Pilot says he had to land because of engine trouble and a personal matter. By Pablo Lopez
The pilot of a 1938 Piper Cub airplane and his passenger escaped without a scrape Tuesday evening after making an emergency landing in a dirt field near a populated area east of Woodward Park in north Fresno. John Gailey, 26, of Visalia, said he was forced to land the two-seater because the engine's temperature gauge was rising and the aircraft was running rough. Once the single-engine plane was safely on the ground, one of the first things he and passenger Stef Booyink, 24, did was urinate in the field. "We had to go," Gailey said, grinning. Now, Fresno police want to know whether Gailey landed the plane in order to go to the bathroom. Police late Tuesday turned the case over to Federal Aviation Administration investigators, who will go to the scene today. The plane landed about 50 yards north of Shepherd Avenue and about 300 yards east of Champlain Drive about 7:20 p.m. "They made a beautiful landing," said Karin Lloyd, who witnessed the plane's descent with her husband, John, while walking their dog F. Lee Bailey. The Lloyds said they heard the plane circling overhead, then saw it land at the west end of the dirt field. The pilot and passenger then got out of the plane for a brief moment, the Lloyds said. Mike Olsen, who was riding a mountain bike, said he rode up to the two men and offered them his cellular phone. But the pilot and passenger declined. Olsen said the men told him, "We just needed to go to the bathroom." Olsen then saw them zip up their pants. The Lloyds said the pilot and passenger then returned to the plane and taxied it to the west end of the dirt lot before stopping along the edge of a canal. Once the plane stopped, police and a crowd of onlookers gathered to figure out what happened. Gailey, sipping on a bottle of water, gave this account: He has been flying for about six years and his aircraft, which he says is a "farm plane," has no lights or radio. He typically takes off from the family's dairy in Visalia and lands in fields that belong to friends, so the dirt field in north Fresno posed no problem. He and Booyink, a visitor from Holland, left the dairy about 6 p.m. to go sightseeing along the Kings River and the foothills to the north. Around 7 p.m., Gailey said he noticed the temperature gauge rising and the engine running rough. He knew the whereabouts of the Fresno Yosemite Airport and the landing strip at Sierra Sky Park in northwest Fresno, but he didn't want to go to either spot because he feared the plane might die on him. "I would have had to fly over neighborhoods and streets," Gailey said. "I wanted to find a spot where I knew I couldn't hurt others." After he landed the plane without a hitch, he and Booyink got out, checked the aircraft, then urinated, he said. They then got in and taxied to the other end of the field in hopes of taking off. But the field, which had been plowed, was too bumpy. Gailey said he and Booyink were never in trouble. His only worry is how is he going to get his plane home. "I guess I have to leave it here tonight," he said.
|
Artikel uit The Fresno Bee over het verdwijnen van het vliegtuigje de volgende morgen.
|
fresnobee.com Fresno forced-landing details, plane missing By Louis Galvan
Federal Aviation Administration officials in Fresno had little to say Wednesday about the forced landing Tuesday of a small airplane in a dirt field in north Fresno, other than that they were looking into it. "We're investigating," said Ed Hammonds, chief of the FAA's Flight Standards district office. The plane, a 1938 Piper Cub, was not in the field Wednesday morning and Hammonds said his office was trying to determine what happened to it. "Apparently it was flown out," he said. "We'll be looking into that, too." The single-engine, two-seater aircraft, which was not damaged, made an emergency landing about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a field northeast of Shepherd Avenue and Champlain Drive. The pilot, John Gailey III, 26, of Visalia and his passenger, Stef Booyink, 24, a visitor from Holland, were not injured. Gailey told reporters he was forced to put the plane down after he noticed the engine was overheating. Gailey said he and Booyink had left his family's dairy farm in Visalia and were sightseeing along the Kings River and the nearby foothills when he noticed the temperature gauge rising. He said he didn't want to risk trying to reach Fresno Yosemite International Airport or the landing strip at Sierra Sky Park in northwest Fresno, so he picked the dirt field and landed without any problems. One of the first things the two men did when they stepped out of the plane was to urinate on the field. "We had to go," Gailey said. After letting the engine cool off, Gailey tried to take off, but gave up because the field was too bumpy. The Bee was unable to contact Gailey Wednesday or to find out how and when the plane left the field. Fresno police filed a report on the incident, but a police spokesman said the report had not been processed and was not available to be reviewed.
|
