#13 Emergency Landing Plan
I used to be a banner tow pilot. I was often tasked to fly banners over the New York City area, especially over the Hudson River. I would pick them up at an airport in New Jersey and make my way over from there. Typically, if I were to run into some kind of engine problem, I’d have a fair number of places where I could theoretically land. Just not so much over the New York City metro area.
So I picked out a “trail of breadcrumbs,” if you will, of specific places I could try to land my plane if I ever had to. On the one year anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson, I was given the job to fly a large banner over a boat on the Hudson that would be carrying the crew and some passengers from the flight.
On the way there, my engine failed while I was less than 1,000 feet above the ground. Sinking quickly, I needed to find a place to land right away. Fortunately, my previously selected spot was just to my left—a landfill on Staten Island. I put the plane right on the top of it.
Credit: danmilligan