Flight Took Off From Washington Dulles, Two Minutes Later It Landed On A Road

by Gary Leff

Southern Airways Express flight 246 took off from Washington Dulles airport this afternoon at around 12:45 p.m. from runway 30. Two minutes later the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan landed on the Loudoun County Parkway. Two pilots and five passengers were on board, and all are reported safe. Dulles airport remains open.

Here’s a replay of the trip:

The 20 year old turboprop, registration N1983X, climbed to around 850 feet before coming down on the parkway. No major injuries were reported. The aircraft stopped on the side of the road and passengers and crew evacuated. It appears that the plane’s propeller blades are bent. No word yet on the cause.

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

  5. Will the passengers on Southern Airways Express flight 246 earn bonus frequent flyer miles after their flight departs from Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) and makes an unscheduled emergency landing on the Loudoun County Parkway near Arcola Mills Drive?

  6. I once got American to give me the extra segment (and they tossed out 12,000 bonus miles) for a return to airport and emergency landing on one engine (MD-80 into STL). I was on an end of year segment run and kinda needed it for status.

    Prop blades bent looks like it struck the guardrail and would look like the prop was moving at time of impact. A birdstrike wouldn’t bend them all, unless it was a lot of birds and in that case the volume/size of birds to do that would put a few holes in the plane too.

    Looks like the pilots put it down in as good a spot as possible there. Single engine, especially if power is an issue, making a 180 back to an airport at low altitude does not usually end well because you lose a lot of speed and altitude (change in lift) in such a turn. Somewhere in the field of vision direct/to the side is what is trained. I’d be curious if they were in their initial turn to heading… usually Southern (radio callsign Friendly) is given a quick turn to get out of the way on departure.

  7. Not the first plane with an airline named Southern to try to land on a road. This one turned out a lot better.

    Also bring back memories of the kind of flying weather Air Florida 90 encountered. That one had a de-icing mistake and then the mistake of the pilots’ handling of getting out the stall while taking off. Didn’t have to end that way.

  8. Miraculous they were able to dicth on Loudon County Parkway without contacting any vehicles. That is a busy road. Kudos to pilot.

  9. Wonder if they’ll find the engine anti-ice inertial separator in the “off” position. Glad everyone walked away.

  10. Commercial with a single, one (1) engine.

    Where’s the ALPA and GSW safety nannies? Have they weighed in yet?

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