WCCO's Kirsten Mitchell tells us more about what led to the dramatic landing and spoke with a family who had front row seats, to an experience they'll never forget.
That airplane was definitely tied down by a truck driver and not by an aircraft mechanic. That's a setup for some very expensive damage if they hit a couple of potholes on the way home. Heavy duty ratchet strap on a hand hold on an aluminum airplane?? When the nose oleo compresses on a bump and then rebounds, the sudden jolt when the strap becomes taught again could damage the fuselage in the area, resulting in a very expensive structural repair.
We didn't have too many airplane mechanics that stopped. I was on the phone WITH our mechanic, and he gave me the instructions to best strap down the plane on this narrow flatbed. The plane received a police escort going about 10 MPH to the Anoka/Blaine airport without incident.
So I am the pilot that made this landing. My guardian angels were looking out for me that day. I have recreated the flight, diversion, and landing from my planes "logs" of our navigation software. It can be viewed at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-D4csfUWdRrI.htmlsi=cPanz1qmSMz-EUNO
