Emergency Landing

An airplane made an emergency landing on US Highway 41 near the Fond du Lac county airport on Sunday. The pilot and passenger escaped unharmed. The landing was caught on video taken by a police car camera system. The Oshkosh Northwestern newspaper has a story on this.

Two people escaped injuries when their 1951 T-6 Texan airplane made an emergency landing on Highway 41 Sunday by Fond du Lac.

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department said the plane was piloted by the aircraft's owner, William Leff, and his son, Gregory Leff, was a passenger. The plane was en route to the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture 2007 that starts today at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The Leffs had just attended an air show in Peoria, Ill. and were flying to Oshkosh.
Authorities did not have information on where the Leffs reside.

The plane landed safely on the northbound lane of Highway 41 just north of Military Road. The pilot landed the aircraft between two squad cars, bounced the aircraft off the ground over the second squad and a motorhome and then came to rest on Highway 41 in front of the Fond du Lac County Airport.

Authorities said they received a call at 7:43 p.m. of a plane that had lost its power and was going to make an emergency landing at the airport. Officials from the Sheriff’s Department, Wisconsin State Patrol and the Fond du Lac Fire Department responded to the scene.

“A person called and said that there was smoke as the plane came down,” said Andy Dothone, a Wisconsin State Patrol dispatcher in the Fond du Lac office.

Wisconsin State Patrol officers happened to be in the area and responded immediately, Dothone said.

The pilot did an amazing job getting this airplane down safely. The newspaper also has a large photo album of the event.