Congratulations on your successful landing in a difficult
situation.

I'd always wondered if it would be possible to merge
in with the traffic in an emergency if there was absolutely
no other options.

Kind Regards,

Luke Roberts
U.K



At 16:42 21 December 2005, Karl Striedieck wrote:
To all of my flying friends,



Glider Training is what seamlessly enabled me to switch
gears and take this
event in stride on this one. A guardian angel might
have helped as well.

I was talking to Detroit Metro tower, circling over
a densely populated site
8 miles east of Detroit Metro (DTW) airport in a borrowed
airplane when the
engine started to run rough. After application of
carburetor heat, the
engine ran slightly better, then rough again. Full
throttle and mixture
were applied to no effect. It was at that time that
I announced to the
Metro tower cab that I was not able to maintain altitude
and was going to
have to 'set it down'. They gave me the wind data
and said they would
inform emergency services about the situation. I was
only 1500 feet above
the ground and because the Cessna 152 has at a glide
ratio of 7:1 which
yields 2 miles in range and 90 seconds to touchdown
although the engine was
intermittently producing some power which helped to
extend my glide
somewhat. In my view to the South West were several
options: 1st a school
yard, too small and what about the kids? 2nd and further
away was an
industrial area with a snow covered field. Snow covered
fields may look good
from afar but what lurks beneath? Nonetheless that
was my goal with I-75
below me along the way i traveled Southwest bound with
the vehicular
traffic, and into the wind. Aware that I wouldn't make
the 2nd option I
concentrated on I-75. Over the freeway I settled earthward,
lower and lower
until I became aware of huge power transmission lines
paralleling my flight
path, the tops of which were now at my altitude, and
50 yards to my right.
Also prominent in view were the tops of cars and trucks
but more
importantly, open areas of concrete looming closer
below. Since my airspeed
was roughly equal to the speed of the moving traffic
I was able to adjust my
relative position for and aft pushing and pulling on
the yoke to drop into
an opening between the vehicles and eventually settled
down onto the
pavement in the flair between the cars. I was careful
to let the Cessna
roll as far as I could so that the traffic behind could
avoid hitting me.
The Engine had stopped some time ago.

I got lucky because there was not a scratch on the
aircraft, nor any fender
benders in any of the 6 miles of traffic which had
eventually accumulated
behind me.



After getting out of the aircraft the first eye contact
I made with and
individual was a woman passing by in a sport utility
vehicle flipping me
off! To her I say, in the words of Steve Martin, 'Well
Excuse Me!!!'

My first task was to push the aircraft back to the
side of the freeway which
allowed a lane of traffic to flow. I then called the
owner of the aircraft
to inform them of the situation. Next was a call to
the Detroit Metro tower
staff and I talked Angelina to let those people know
that I got down safe
and sound. Then I called the FAA where I got into voice
mail but it turned
out that he was trying to call me so we connected and
by then blue-suits
from 5 different agency's arrived which was reassuring
because not a single
vehicle driving by bothered to stop and check if I
needed any help. And that
was a lot of cars. The cops gave me a breathalyzer
test which was fun but it
was so cold out I had to try 10 times before it worked.
By then I was sober
right? The FAA wanted to make sure that there was fuel
in the aircraft so
they had the police check the gauges which confirmed
that they were full to
the brim and I was off the hook so it was ok to move
the aircraft.

We actually got the airplane onto a standard automotive
flatbed truck and
hauled it down the freeway and Westbound to Metro airport
and what a parade
it was. People anticipated our passing with cameras
in large groups the
entire route. We had an escort of 6 police cars ahead
and at least as many
behind, lights flashing for the 8 mile ride which too
an hour and a half at
5 miles per hour. So the Cessna sits in a hanger metro
waiting for the FAA
to look at it and perhaps discover some information
which might help to
prevent this kind of an event from happening again.



Best Regards,

John Sullivan















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