By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
A private plane was forced to make a rather unusual emergency landing in Glendive on Wednesday.
Larry Blakesley, of Belgrade, Mont., was en route from Aitkin, Minn., back to Belgrade. Blakesley said he was planning to land at the Dawson Community Airport to “get some fuel and carry on,” but during his descent the plane ran out of fuel and the engine sputtered out.
Blakesley made a mayday call to the airport after the engine quit, informing them he would have to make an emergency landing away from the airport. Air traffic controllers tried to direct him to land along Belle Prairie Road, but Blakesley said that proved impractical, so he touched down on Interstate 94.
“I wanted to try and land on the service road out here, but there were obstructions, so I put it down on the interstate,” he said.
Dawson County Undersherriff Katie Mills said the sheriff’s office got the emergency call at about 12:30 p.m., but at that point, Blakesley was already on his way down to land on the interstate, meaning there was no time for law enforcement or emergency responders to cordon off a place for him to land. Blakesley made the landing with traffic flowing freely on the interstate, and Mills said “he almost did” hit a vehicle during the landing.
“He got lucky,” Mills said.
During the landing, Blakesley did clip a power line. He also hit a highway sign with a wing while taxiing down the interstate. He ultimately taxied the plane off the interstate and into the Runnings parking lot.
Blakesley said he just miscalculated the amount of fuel he needed to get from Aitkin to Glendive.
Mills was a little more critical.
“Basically, he didn’t plan his trip, and he tried to push it to Glendive and he didn’t make it,” she said.
Blakesley has not been charged with anything in the aftermath, though Mills said he can expect to be billed for the damage to the power line and the highway sign. The investigation of the incident has been turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration, though Mills will continue to work with the agency during the investigation.
The plane was taxied from Runnings all the way back to the airport, with law enforcement and emergency responders providing an escort to clear a way for the plane to make it down the roads.
Blakesley said just after the incident that he had never had to make an emergency landing before. However, even though his engine quit, he said he was never terribly worried or frightened and knew exactly what he needed to do to bring the plane down safely.
“You just got to deal with whatever the issue is in front of you,” Blakesley said.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.