The view of an aircraft making an emergency landing on a busy North Carolina roadway would certainly have startled those in their cars, but not more so than the pilot of the high-wing Aero Commander 100 as he navigated the way to a successful landing after experiencing an inflight engine failure.
As it happens, the newly minted pilot, Vincent Fraser, was taking his father-in-law aloft on what was to be a quick flight when things went awry. As the engine failed and could not provide enough thrust to maintain altitude, Fraser was left with few options in the mountainous terrain, which luckily happened to have a four-lane (non-divided) highway snaking through it. It was on this highway that Fraser executed what would become an almost flawless emergency landing as he weaved and serpentined his way to a stop, all of which was recorded on his GoPro.
In a Facebook post, Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran praised the landing, stating, “What an OUTSTANDING job and no injuries. AMAZING.”
There is currently no information as to what caused the engine problems that precipitated the emergency landing. Regardless, great job!
See more videos from the Swain County Sheriff’s office here.
