While most pilots prefer a smooth runway, history has shown that sometimes, aircraft end up landing in the most unexpected places. Some do it out of fun, other from necessity but here are a few interesting places that some pilots landed on:
- The Plane That Landed on a Moving Car – Mike Murphy (1930s)
Stunt pilot Mike Murphy pulled off one of the most daring landings ever caught on film. He used a wooden landing rack mounted on the roof of a moving automobile for takeoff and landing with a wheeled Cub. He was known for pushing the limits of aviation and performing death-defying stunts in airshows.
You can check the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMdgZ1udymA
- The Cessna That Parked on a New York Street (1956)
In 1956, after a night of drinking, Thomas Fitzpatrick made a bet at a bar that he could land a plane back in Washington Heights from New Jersey in 15 minutes. He stole a plane, took off without lights, and landed it on St. Nicholas Avenue in Manhattan, narrowly avoiding cars and lampposts. Two years later, after another drinking spree, he repeated the stunt, landing on Amsterdam Avenue. Fitzpatrick was arrested both times, but his remarkable landings in tight, urban spaces became legendary, earning him a place in New York aviation history.
- The Cornfield Bomber – A Plane That Landed Itself
In 1970, a remarkable incident occurred involving a U.S. Air Force Convair F-106 Delta Dart. During a training mission, the aircraft entered an unrecoverable spin due to a mechanical failure, forcing the pilot to eject. However, in an unexpected twist, the plane stabilized itself after the pilot ejected, continuing to glide.
Against all odds, the F-106 descended into a snowy field in Montana, completely intact. The aircraft managed to land without any major damage, a rare and unusual occurrence in aviation history. It was later recovered, inspected, and surprisingly deemed fit for service again. This extraordinary event highlights the unpredictability of flight and serves as an example of how aircraft sometimes defy expectations, even after catastrophic events.
- A racing track in Canada – Gimli Glider
On July 23, 1983, a Boeing 767 operated by Air Canada ran out of fuel mid-flight after a refueling error involving a mix-up between imperial and metric units. With 61 passengers on board, Captain Robert Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal acted quickly and calmly.
They glided the plane toward Gimli Airfield, an abandoned military airstrip repurposed for drag racing, not a regular commercial airport. Despite the runway’s narrowness and the lack of lighting, Pearson performed a flawless landing, bringing the aircraft to a stop just short of the runway’s end.
The incident, known as the Gimli Glider, became a legendary example of airmanship, demonstrating the critical importance of calm decision-making under pressure.
- How to Park in Red Square: A One-Man Tutorial.
Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German, took off from Helsinki-Malmi Airport in Finland on May 28, 1987, in a white Cessna 172 Skyhawk, registration D-ECJB. He filed a flight plan for Stockholm, but abruptly changed course over the Gulf of Finland, heading east into Soviet airspace. Despite being detected by Soviet radar, he was often mistaken for a friendly aircraft or simply dismissed. He descended through gaps in the air defense system, even flying under low cloud cover, and eventually landed near St. Basil’s Cathedral, a stone’s throw from Red Square. He taxied briefly before being detained. His flight, a bizarre mix of luck and determination, exposed serious flaws in Soviet air defense and became a powerful symbol of the era.
