Landing on One of Two Engines

Wednesday afternoon I heard scattered radio traffic come across the scanner in the newsroom. All I knew was that several fire engines and medics were being dispatched to the airport. I waited just long enough to hear that a twin-engine aircraft was flying with only one functioning engine and was going to attempt to land before jumping into my car and heading that way.

The airplane was about 10 miles out and was going to circle once before landing. Of course I was stuck at a traffic light downtown as I heard this and quickly calculated that I might have at very most five minutes before the plane lands to make the 10-minute trip to the airport. There’s no way that’s going to happen but I’ll get there when I get there.

I drove up past the airport terminal just as the airplane touched down.

Luckily experienced Walla Walla University Director of Aviation Training Shawn Dietrich along with student Jae Kong had the situation well under control in the cockpit of the Piper Seminole. The plane stumbled in for a safe landing and taxied over to the Walla Walla University hangar as emergency response vehicles slowly headed for home.

“The FAA requires we teach shutting down and restarting one engine. This time the starter would not re-engage. It’s happened before in piston-powered aircraft … it’s not uncommon,” Dietrich would explain later to U-B reporter Sheila Hagar and intern Luc Brodhead. For more on the landing see their story on the UB’s website.

As much as I would have liked it, I knew there was no chance of getting out onto the tarmac so I resigned myself to shooting through the chain-link fencing that surrounds the hangar area. First I found an angle of the airplane taxiing past the airports fire suppression vehicle. I knew if there was nothing else that this would have to work:

UN-PUBLISHED: Nikon D700, ED AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR with Nikkor 1.4 II Teleconverter at 280mm, f/5.0, 1/1600 sec. and ISO 200.

I wanted something more though and circled back and forth around several hangars as I determined where the plan would stop taxiing. The fence kept a mostly straight line with the edge of the hangars so I couldnt’ see around them too well. Luckily I found a spot where the fence jogged out towards the runway further providing just enough of a view of the plane in front of the hangar as pilot and student stepped out:

Nikon D700, ED AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR with Nikkor 1.4 II Teleconverter at 185mm, f/8.0, 1/800 sec. and ISO 200.

The well prepared Walla Walla University instructors credited experience and a focus on safety with the safe landing. It’s much the same with spot-news photography. The safety of everyone on scene always comes first and foremost. From there it’s all about being prepared for just about anything and everything with a camera and the right lens choice in hand.

I’m always hoping for the best while prepared for the worst. Luckily everyone walked away without a scratch and with an interesting story to share on this day.