When a real precautionary or forced landing happens; previous and regular practice is the key for good judgement and safe outcome. Written by Yves Gélinas (March 2002) Yves@Gelinas.org
. 46° 05" N - 73° 54" W			This article is presenting a real experience. However, training for precautionary and forced landing must be done under the guidance of a recognised flight instructor and in a save area. ª Click on the images for a better resolution. Click on the picture on the left to get a visual menu that you can use to go through the experience.
WHAT IF… WHERE DO YOU LAND? and CAN YOU MAKE IT? Those questions come out very often when we fly with flight instructors. I am sure that many of you appreciated the instructors’ advice and practiced precautionary and forced landings with them on many occasions. But, how many simulate those type of situations, ALONE and REGULARLY? Personally, I practice precautionary and forced landings once a while and usually by choosing a direction for landing that places the airplane in a more or less upwind position. However, for the first time after 30 years of flying and during the summer 2001, I had to do it for real, on regional highway 125, in a downwind position and at the same time I had to do my approach by flying the contour of a mountain. That day (Fathers day), I made a flight plan from Rockcliffe to a private runway in the Laurentide area. One hour to get there, one hour to come back and two hours in reserve. I always review my fuel consumption and in my first half hour of flight I realized that I was consuming more than expected, considering that I had a tail wind. Every five minutes I recalculated the consumption and this confirmed to me that I was burning more fuel than normal. As I recalled, everything else was working fine in the cockpit. I was in a mountain area and for precaution, I diverted to Joliette airfield that is more south and located in the St-Laurent valley. My first diagnostic was that I probably did not close properly my fuel caps (C-150) and the fuel was being sucked out from my wings. As soon as I changed direction the fuel gauges dropped more rapidly. As I tried to give an emergency call, my radio flicked out and I was sure that I was not able to reach the valley’s airfield or any farm fields. I was right over mountains, trees and lakes. The following sections present you with my decisions and reactions during this event. As I did after the fact, you will probably say “…in his place I would have done this or that…”. Whatever, what is important is that I succeeded to land safely, no one was hurt or injured and I was able to fly back to my base with the same airplane before the end of the day, so I can enjoy a good drink with my family in my home backyard :-)
Image A	Making the right decision : I have to admit that I panic for a moment. But rapidly I checked outside and spotted highway 125. The 125 is a two lane road, one way for each direction. Fortunately it is 4 lanes for few miles like a SUPER highway. Knowing that the likelihood of not having any electrical wires crossing that portion of the road was very high I directed the airplane to that section of the road. My plan was that if there was enough room on the road I would land the airplane. If the traffic would have been too dense then my second option was to climb as high as possible until the engine stop, if my diagnostic was correct. The traffic was very dense. However, there was a mile or so, in downwind direction, where there was no traffic at all and a quick look further away on the road showed no more traffic coming in. So I decided to land the airplane right there and merging with the highway traffic.			Main menu
Image B	Securing the approach : The wind was about 20 knots and a mountain was between me and the portion of the road that I wanted to land and I was expected a down draft from that position. I wanted to drop full flap but the flaps did not work. I turned my Master off, directed the airplane further over the highway and dive to speed up so I can clear the traffic that was going in the direction of my landing stretch. This helped to clearly indicate to the car drivers my intention to land. I glide over the highway, flying alongside the mountain and in a curve path following the highway curve. As soon as I finished the curve my landing spot was right there. Because of the mountains on each side of the road, the wind velocity increased significantly and the airplane did not want to drop. I made a quick sideslip and touched one wheel in the last quarter of the landing strip that I planned to use. At the end of the strip there was an other curve and I concentrated on controlling the airplane right on the dotted line.			Image C
Image D	Concentrating on the commitment to land safely : Unfortunately, at the end of that curve the road had a descending slope eliminating the decreasing of the speed. I knew that the 4 lanes highway was merging into a regular 2 way road and normally I would have succeeded to finish my landing roll before that portion where the road merged. There were road indicators on each side of the road announcing the merge and I was sure that my wing span would not allow me to safely go between the signs. A little bit of throttle and the airplane jumped over that obstacle. I pull the throttle back immediately because I knew that electrical wires would cross the road soon (300 feet away).			Image E
Image F	Securing the people and the airplane : Finally, I was in a position to really stop the airplane. I parked it on a little street that I thought was a house’s driveway. The owner and some other citizens came to help to park the airplane safely and outside the 125 traffic path. I checked to ensure that everything was safe and that no one could move the airplane. A quick inspection of my fuel tanks showed me that I still had fuel for 3 more hours. Obviously, the problem was an electrical one.			Menu F
Image F1	Advising the authorities: I called immediately the Montréal FSS to close my flight plan and to advise them that I had to land on a public road. The FSS called immediately the police force and a patrol car got there within the next ten minutes. I gave a call to my wife before anyone else does. Fortunately, I was able to locate an aviation mechanic and got him to check out my plane within two hours. He was not able to locate precisely the problem but suggest me to simply keep my Master off, he would also unconnect the battery and the alternator and suggest that I fly back with no electrics.			Image F2
Image G	Preparing for departure: So, I gave a call to Montreal FSS to make my flight plan and got back in my airplane. With the help of the mechanic, we started the engine manually. The police force blocked the road and escorted me to a safe departure area, on the opposite side of were I landed. Getting back to the 4 way highway was not simple. I had to go around the side road obstacles of the merging area.			Image H
Image I	Positioning for take off : Now the wind was in the right direction for me to take off. However, I had to be careful of the downdraft created by the mountain right in front of me. My decision then was to follow the highway path until a safe altitude. In addition I looked around to spot all the possible side road obstacles and ensured that I stayed in the middle of the road all the way until airborne.			Image J
Image K	Getting back to base : The take off was easier than the landing. I kept my brakes on, applied full throttle, start rolling and rapidly I was airborne and climbing. I made a circle pass over the home owner who helped me. That was a sign for him to call my wife and to tell her that I had taken off safely.			Image L
CONCLUSION I made it! However I learned many new things: 1) I should have practiced more downwind approaches, more precautionary and forced landings. I think that I made a sharp landing but I am sure that I would have been better if I would have practiced more. 2) Call the flying club or the owner If you do not own the airplane. Let the club decide and send an instructor to fly the plane back. I was the owner, so I made my own decisions. 3) Back to the base, I was very surprised to see all the support from my colleague pilots and mostly from the flying instructors who backed me with my decisions. 4) The airplane was inspected and the Masters connections were found a little loose. It is likely what created the problem. I made two hours and half of flight test and then I went back to were I landed in the Laurentide with my friend Philippe Quézel who took the aerial pictures. The other pictures were made when I visited the home owner who was my guest at the Fathers day. Safe flying to all of you.