It doesn’t take a nuclear physicist to understand that there’s a problem when a private roadway borders with a landing strip.
Yet, for whatever reason, there’s a road on the side of the runway at the Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke, Texas, and surprise, surprise, a small plane that was preparing to land clipped a passenger car, and it was all caught on film by the pilot’s wife.
Early on Saturday morning, rookie pilot William Davis, who was making his first solo round-trip in a 2005 Cessna Sky Hawk, dropped his landing gear and prepared to touch ground when a Volvo SUV passed through the road that borders with the runway.
The small Cessna smashed into the roof of the SUV while travelling at around 65mph (105km/h) destroying its landing gear in the process before it hit the ground with its belly. Astonishingly, no one was hurt from the accident.
The SUV was driven by Frank and Heather Laudo. “We couldn’t see anything at all, and then… all of a sudden… equipment was falling into the car,” Heather Laudo told WFAA-TV.
Airport manager Glen Hyde told WFAA that drivers are supposed to stop when the runway is active, which obviously didn’t happen in the case of the Laudo couple.
Officials from Northwest Regional Airport said they have tried to purchase the roadway property but the owner has declined all offers. “I will be talking with the FAA tomorrow in an effort to explore options to make the private road not owned by the airport safer,” Hyde said.
As for the lucky pilot, Davis said that he is abandoning the sport after the accident. Who can blame him…
Video via ABC News
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