Pilot who made an emergency landing on a street in Phoenix speaks out
PHOENIX (NBC, KYMA) - A pilot and two passengers walked away with only minor injuries after a seaplane was forced to make an emergency landing in central Phoenix Sunday.
Pilot Mike Tragarz shows NBC affiliate KPNX the moments before he made the emergency landing on Seventh Street.
"We're talking about 45 seconds. It seemed like a lifetime. It really wasn't," Tragarz shared.
Tragarz and two passengers were out for a joyride over Phoenix in his 1940s seaplane. Less than 20 minutes in flight, the trio says they heard funny noises coming from the engine and the cockpit started filling with smoke.
"The first indication that we saw was this gauge right here where the RPM went all the way up to 3,500 and probably a little bit beyond," Tragarz detailed.
The pilot turned back toward Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, but it was too late. He didn't even have time to declare mayday as Seventh street was the only clear path in site.
"I saw that it was completely clear. I mean it looked like a runway," Tragarz remembered.
Tragarz successfully belly-landed the aircraft, avoiding power lines and a traffic sign on the way down.
"As soon as I knew I cleared the wires, I started a left hand turn to line up with the runway. Then, I saw the sign. I pushed up forward to get up underneath the sign and then pulled back and got underneath it and the rest is a sliding history," Tragarz explained.
Amazingly no cars, people or buildings were struck.
"If we hit anything, a car, people, whatever. There's no telling what really would have been the result," Tragarz remarked.
The two passengers on board say they're incredibly thankful to their friend, with Hanan Haskell saying, "Mike is our hero today."
However, Tragarz said it was his decades of experience and training as an airline pilot that kept them all safe.
"In the time that we had to react, it was that muscle memory and that ability to maintain my situational awareness that you get from that kind of training. It saved the day. I don't take the credit," Tragarz expressed.
