# Plane lands in traffic in Montreal **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950 "2020-04-16T21:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/21 "2020-04-17T22:26:03Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I doubt this would have been possible in ordinary times. There is a major highway (actually the very same Autoroute 40) visible from my living room window and there is only a fraction of normal traffic. We had an airplane land on a road near where I live, oh, about 15 years ago now. Apparently, most car and truck drivers will yield to a merging airplane. 🙂 And that one was during rush hour. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/22 "2020-04-17T22:28:32Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How does one recover the aircraft, a large platform wrecker and remove the wings? A couple different options. If the airplane can be made airworthy enough for at least a brief flight to a proper repair facility you can have it take off from the road. Usually, the local authorities will block traffic for the few minutes required for this to take place. Or, yes, you can take off the wings and put it on a trailer. Keep in mind that an airplane weighs significantly less than a car/SUV/truck of roughly the same dimensions/volume so you really don’t need something huge/heavy duty to do this ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/23 "2020-04-17T22:37:44Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > A couple different options. > > If the airplane can be made airworthy enough for at least a brief flight to a proper repair facility you can have it take off from the road. Usually, the local authorities will block traffic for the few minutes required for this to take place. > > Or, yes, you can take off the wings and put it on a trailer. Keep in mind that an airplane weighs significantly less than a car/SUV/truck of roughly the same dimensions/volume so you really don’t need something huge/heavy duty to do this Thanks, Broomstick. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/24 "2020-04-17T23:48:51Z")
Every year I do a survey of an island pelican colony here in Panama using a small (4-seater) plane. The survey requires multiple passes at low altitude as we videotape and photograph the nesting area. Our pilot Vicente, who I have been using for similar surveys for almost 25 years now, is famous (notorious, perhaps) for having once landed his plane on a two-lane highway in western Panama. There would have been much less traffic back then, but he was still lucky there wasn’t someone in the oncoming lane. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/25 "2020-04-18T00:57:31Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Still, especially in a less-crowded area I imagine the highways would indeed make a decent emergency landing strip. In the 1960’s There was a stretch of long, flat, wide freeway near Phoenix Arizona that my dad told me was also an alternate (strategic) runway for the adjacent airforce base. I was only a kid then, and I’ve since wondered if he hadn’t mistaken the road markings indicating to aircraft that it was NOT a runway. But he was a an airforce defense contractor, and it’s the kind of thing he would have known. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/26 "2020-04-18T02:27:22Z")
A good reason to fly a gyroplane. If the engine dies, just auto-rotate down into a pasture, right? ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Nord\_du\_Nord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Le\_Nord\_du\_Nord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Nord_du_Nord)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/27 "2020-04-18T03:36:33Z")
This happened about 2-3km from home, and the exit you see at the end is the one I take to go home. In [this radio interview](https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1694513/petit-avion-pose-urgence-autoroute-felix-leclerc) (in French), the pilot says he has been flying small planes for 40 years, and this one particular airplane for 25. He says the probable cause of his problem was ice or frost in the carburetor, but it’s not confirmed. He drove into the exit lane, was helped to a parking lot, and then a truck loaded the plane to get back to the airport, apparently without removing the wings. He also says that, looking at the videos, he is surprised that the cars behind him did not brake more, but he had to trust them as he did not see them while landing. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/28 "2020-04-18T13:16:11Z")
Really incredible. The plane is smoking if you look close, and all those obstructions. Wolfpup ~ I thought it was funny how a few cars just went around him in ‘just another day’ fashion as well. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/29 "2020-04-18T16:33:58Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > [Watch this video](https://curiocity.com/vancouver/lifestyle/insane-video-catches-emergency-plane-landing-on-highway-in-quebec/?fbclid=IwAR2AZX7NgknmtCUbAgL2WUiU_xagn_rc2wEvD6MsYzK1Piqq0KDRhgah4ME) - I wish drivers in TN merged that well. > > StG Canadians are such polite drivers. I attended a funeral in Canada once and I was amazed that everybody pulled over to the side of the road to let our funeral procession pass by. You only see that in the US for emergency vehicles, because it’s the law. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/30 "2020-04-18T16:46:31Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Canadians are such polite drivers. I attended a funeral in Canada once and I was amazed that everybody pulled over to the side of the road to let our funeral procession pass by. You only see that in the US for emergency vehicles, because it’s the law. In central Arkansas, a police motorcycle escorts the funeral, and stops traffic at major intersections for them to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/31 "2020-04-18T18:10:14Z")
Last year [a plane landed on one of the busiest streets in our area.](https://www.facebook.com/Q13FOX/videos/2331269880327320/) In morning rush hour, no less. Came to a stop just before an intersection where the cross-traffic seemed oblivious to its approach. The video from a state patrol car caught it all. Amazing! The officer helped the uninjured pilot push the plane off the road where it was later loaded onto a truck. Gotta love these pilots who can keep calm enough to pull these street landings off with such aplomb. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/32 "2020-04-18T18:13:27Z")
It’s not in Montreal. It’s nearer to Quebec City, which is not too near to Montreal. Quebec drivers are notoriously bad, but in this case, there are not much people out driving due to the virus and more people staying home. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/33 "2020-04-18T18:19:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > In central Arkansas, a police motorcycle escorts the funeral, and stops traffic at major intersections for them to pass. I was surprised that Arkansas was still doing this! And [it looks like it is leaving most places there too.](https://www.pressreader.com/usa/northwest-arkansas-democrat-gazette/20130203/281758446671453) These escorts are incredibly [deadly and dangerous to police and other cars](https://funeralbusinessadvisor.com/funeral-directors-say-other-drivers-make-funeral-processions-dangerous/funeral-business-advisor) driving at an unexpected speed. So I think we will soon see the end of the funeral processions as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/34 "2020-04-18T18:22:14Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I want to know what was going thru the minds of the two cards right behind it. Did they see it coming well ahead of time? They sure didn’t slow down much or back off. Nuts! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/35 "2020-04-18T20:16:07Z")
That was a lot better than the plane that [tried to land on Lansdowne Street](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peterborough-plane-crash-1.3717965) in Peterborough a few years ago… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/36 "2020-04-18T20:45:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Every year I do a survey of an island pelican colony here in Panama using a small (4-seater) plane. The survey requires multiple passes at low altitude as we videotape and photograph the nesting area. > > Our pilot Vicente, who I have been using for similar surveys for almost 25 years now, is famous (notorious, perhaps) for having once landed his plane on a two-lane highway in western Panama. There would have been much less traffic back then, but he was still lucky there wasn’t someone in the oncoming lane. Small plane in Costa Rica. The airport we where supposed to go to was socked in for hours. So they decided to get us as close as they could to another ‘airport’. They rubber banded a hand held Garmin GPS to the control wheel and off we went. Weeeeee. Was a little worried that our vacation in Costa Rica would be a permanent one. Some of these guys REALLY know their shit. That Ontario landing deserves a Sully award. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/37 "2020-04-18T20:52:13Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I always figured that sort of thing got set back in the 1920s-1940s when Canada was more integrated with the UK than now. Nearly all other British Commonwealth countries drive on the left. Clearly Canada was already too well integrated with the US to think of doing that. Although I think there was LHD in parts of Canada but not in Ontario and Quebec, which were the ones that mattered. And Canada was pretty much independent from Britain after 1867 which is when it is considered to have begun. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/38 "2020-04-18T22:28:59Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Canadians are such polite drivers. I attended a funeral in Canada once and I was amazed that everybody pulled over to the side of the road to let our funeral procession pass by. You only see that in the US for emergency vehicles, because it’s the law. I’m in TN and everyone does that for a funeral here. StG ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/39 "2020-04-24T00:31:26Z")
We buried my 2 year old great nephew today. All along the route to the cemetery, cars on the other side of the road automatically pulled over and stayed in place as the procession passed. Cars and semi trucks in the same direction pulled to the shoulder so the procession could pass them by. Even people on the sidewalks stopped and bowed their head. In one case, I saw 3 guys leave the bays of their mechanics shop and stand for the cortege. This is in TN. StG ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950/40 "2020-04-24T02:08:12Z")
My Mother was born in Finley Tennessee. You are good people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-lands-in-traffic-in-montreal/851950.md?page=3)