Warbird Information Exchange

From: http://www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp? ... =Printable

(Putnam County) - Drivers on I-70 in Putnam County saw a rare sight Wednesday afternoon: a vintage 1946 Stinson plane in the median strip.

Craig Carlson, the pilot, never thought he'd have to make an emergency landing in the middle of a busy Indiana interstate.

"What happened is I'm about 1700 feet, flying, just cruising. I had some problems with my airplane - and at that altitude you don't have much time to think about what you're gonna do. You just pray that you get it down on the ground safely and that's what happened," said Carlson.

Carlson's years of experience as a police officer with the California highway patrol came in handy, because public safety was on his mind.

"I was thinking, 'My God, I hope I don't hurt anybody,'" he said.

Carlson just bought his Stinson today from a trooper in Ohio. He was flying from Ohio, planned to make a stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma and head home to Seattle, Washington. Problems with the fuel pump got in the way.

"For an airplane to cut down like that it could be various things. I'm a flight instructor; I've been flying since '88. You know what, it doesn't happen very often. Just glad it happened and I was able to fly it and keep my senses about me."

In Indiana, it's legal to land a plane on a public road if it's an emergency. But Carlson had to tow the plane away because it's illegal to take off from the road.

"I've been a trooper for five years. In my five years, it's the first time obviously - had another trooper on the scene who had 25 years on him. He advised he's seen this twice. So 25 years - it doesn't hapen very often, which is a good,” said trooper DuJuan McFadden.

Carlson snapped pictures to remember his emergency landing for a long time to come.

"It was pretty nerve-wracking. It'll raise your blood pressure!"