BLAINE, Minn. – The pilot of single-engine plane on a 60-mile hop between suburban airports lost oil pressure and set down on the shoulder of a busy four-lane highway. The pilot was unhurt, the plane undamaged. This was about 2 p.m. on 125th Avenue in Blaine. After climbing out of the plane and surveying the situation, the pilot decided not to call out an aviation mechanic to fix the oil problem. So rather than fly back to Cambridge, he asked police to call a flatbed truck to haul the plane back. The pilot had been cleared for an emergency landing at the Blaine airport, but worried whether the engine could make it that far, he put down on an open section of the highway. Police quoted the pilot that he had 13 years flying experience.
Safely down. The oil gauge went bad halfway between the north suburban Cambridge aerodrome and the Flying Cloud aerodrome in Eden Prairie. Image: Blaine Police