Breathtaking Audio Of Air Traffic Control As Washington Dulles Flight Lands On Highway

by Gary Leff

Southern Airways Express flight 246 took off from Washington Dulles airport this afternoon at around 12:45 p.m. headed for Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Two minutes later the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan landed on the Loudoun County Parkway. Everyone on board was reported safe, and the NTSB is investigating. The plane had only climbed to around 850 feet before coming down on the highway.

Air traffic control audio is just… breathtaking. Southern Airways Express (call sign “FRIENDLY”) declares “Mayday Mayday” followed by indistinguishable chatter. They said “We’re landing on” and the next thing that’s audible is that they are “on the ground.”

Air traffic control repeats, “Did you say you’re on the ground?” The Southern Airways Express flight confirms, “We’re on the ground, we just landed.”

ATC says “we are dispatching emergency services to your location now.” And the pilot gives their location as “Across from the Wendy’s and Aldi’s.”

Fortunately she confirms, “All passengers and crew are alive and well.”

That may be the first time Wendy’s was used as coordinates with air traffic control?

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Its not a highway, It landed in Loudoun county parkway, couple of minutes from my house. Very near to Dulles Landing Walmart.

  2. @BlackHill would “principal arterial” better describe the Loudoun County Parkway? I also live in the area and I consider the Loudoun County Parkway a “highway.” In the end it’s a highway that is designed to transport as many cars as efficiently as possible.

  3. @BlackHill – Loudoun County Parkway is a state highway. Never lived in Loudoun County myself but I’m an ex-Fairfax, Falls Church, Alexandria and Arlington resident.

  4. It is not a highway … a high way is an elevated road , elevated above the countryside . A high street , on the other hand , is a town’s primary business street .

  5. Does it really matter whether Loudoun County Parkway is a highway, parkway, driveway or Safeway? The Cessna 208 is on the ground where it’s NOT supposed to be! The 208 is a great plane…flown it lots but they usually land on a runway of some sort. Jeeze! Great job flight crew!

  6. Loudoun County has been vocal about Dulles noise. Guess they will be kvetching about planes on the parkway now.

    Very fortunate that traffic was not an issue and everyone is okay.

  7. @Blackhill
    Should that Walmart be hyphenated (like Wal-Mart) or not? Its obviously very important to the article.

  8. In the 1950s a Northwest Stratocruiser landed at Midway. The tower lost sight of the aircraft and radioed the crew- “where are you”. The captain responded, “not sure, but the street signs say 52nd and Cicero”. The aircraft had gone thru the fence surrounding Midway Airport.

  11. This was one of the funniest discussion threads I’ve seen in quite a while.

    “principal arterial”, “kvetching”. Love it. Keep it coming.

  12. I wonder if this is a case where well-trained pilots did not attempt to turn around following an engine failure (aka the impossible turn), but put it down more or less straight ahead. I look forward to the debrief on YouTube.

  14. Always make sure your pilot has glider training like this pilot surely had.
    Gliders have no engine, so you need to learn to land fast and well if you want to walk away, as you have NO SECOND CHANCE.

  15. The debrief by Juan Browne was not exactly what I thought, but there was no attempt to turn back. Instead, the crew made a left turn to land on the highway, successfully threading the needle between a treeline and powerlines and underneath a traffic standard. Juan tried it on the simulator software and didn’t make it, crashing into the powerlines. So this was just superb flying by this crew.

  16. Just to be pedantic, that stretch of the LCP from Old Ox south to Route 50 is (according to the Countywide Transportation Plan) referred to as a “Principal Arterial (Freeway)” and the rest of the LCP is a “Principal Arterial (Non-Freeway / Other)”.

  17. highway…..

    a public road, especially an important road that joins cities or towns together:

  18. Excellent flying, but perhaps poor decision to fly in the first place? Weather at that time was sketchy. The only reason this had a happy ending was that few cars were on the road.

  19. They did what you are instructed to do in this serino. Turning to get back would be 6 souls lost

  20. I heard it go over Ashby Ponds where 2,000 seniors live. We are blessed that the pilot had control to land it in the street.

  21. How about those de-icer boots on the leading edges. Perhaps a malfunction? Very important to keep wing leading edges clear in winter precipitation.

  22. I have had the privilege of embarking on over 300 flights with Southern Airways Express over the past five years, traversing the route from BFD to PIT and back for connecting flights. Remarkably, they consistently prioritize caution, particularly in adverse weather conditions. While I may harbor some reservations, I must emphasize that my experiences have never instilled a sense of insecurity during my travels with them

  24. Great job crew! At 850 feet there wasn’t time to turn around! You learn real quick, in the air, to make the best, safest choice possible (private pilot here) for the lives on board. You literally have seconds to make that choice. Thats why it is so important to always keep your cool when dicey situations arise. At that altitude, with that type plane, it would have been a road or a field in front of them rather than trying to turn back. If memory serves correctly from my time working there, thats actually a nice wide stretch of road! 🙂 Kudos to everyone involved!

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