A long time ago I wrote a paper about the development of the interstate highway system. Among the various bits of trivia that I picked up in my research was that supposedly one mile of every five is straight, relatively level and without overpasses. Why? So planes can land on them, just in case – an insurance plan for the national aviation network. Today that insurance plan was put to use when the pilot of a small prop plane landed on I-70 just outside Indianapolis. After a couple hours of maintenance work the plane was repaired enough that it was able to take off from the highway and resume its travels. Interestingly enough, the sheriff’s department had no idea where the guy was going or why he stopped. He also wasn’t cited for disrupting traffic.
On a much sadder and scarier note, a flight operating from Manchester, UK to Cyprus had to divert to Istanbul this afternoon when the co-pilot died during the flight. Everyone else was safe and fine and the pilot was able to land safely. No word yet on exactly what happened there.
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