They'll Yank His Ticket... Oops, They Already Did

Here's a wheels-up landing that requires more than a moment's oversight -- a blue Chevrolet, "wheels up" at Coleman A. Young International (formerly Detroit City) Airport early Thursday morning. 

Apparently the car hit a dirt berm on Lynch Road with enough oomph to get airborne and continued sailing over the 10-foot-high perimeter fence ... landing on its roof inside.

The driver was taken to the hospital in unknown condition. He has not been identified; some local media report that he has been charged with driving with a suspended license. The owner of the wrecked, rear- wheel-drive Chevy, who may or may not be the driver, has had seven (!) previous license suspensions, but had his license reinstated recently.

The mid-1980s Monte Carlo came to a stop on empty land near an abandoned runway, and poses no hazard to airmen. Unless they gawk at it on approach and forget to lower their landing gear, perhaps.

Pilots say that a good landing is one you can walk away from... a great landing, they can use the aircraft again. This "pilot" wasn't seriously injured, but he didn't exactly walk away, either -- the nice policeman offered him a ride. And the "aircraft"? Despite setting an unofficial Chevy Monte Carlo altitude record, it's probably destined for a smelter.

For once, FAA and NTSB are NOT investigating. Airmen are advised, though, to keep an eye out for "traffic" in the pattern.

FMI: www.ci.detroit.mi.us/airport/