Cool as ice: 18-year-old Jackson pilot kept his head
Teenager makes emergency landing on busy bridge in AC after plane dies
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — An 18-year-old ranching kid out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming is being lauded for his cool head as he made an emergency landing on a bridge in New Jersey after his 1946 Piper quit on him in midair while he was flying an advertising banner for Cape May Aerial Advertising.
Landon Lucas, 18, of Jackson Hole, was one cool customer as he was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and other national news outlets.
The Inquirer wrote:
“Being scared does nothing,” Lucas told the Inquirer, with the nonchalance of a teenager, or maybe that of a pilot trained for the unexpected, or of a Jackson Hole, Wyo., native used to flying in mountains. “It was either water or bridge. There was a gap in traffic, and I went in. I just did a 90-degree turn, and put it on.”
Put it on he did. Wheels down flawlessly on a busy bridge outside of Atlantic City, NJ.
His boss told the Inquirer they have been impressed with the kid since he showed up to work in his red pickup truck with a dirt bike in the back.
After all, this is a kid who came up in the Teton County 4-H program. No problem.
