A pilot had to make an emergency landing on U.S. 14, just outside Greybull, around 7:40 a.m. Monday. The Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) and Big Horn County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and found the pilot unharmed and the plane undamaged.
The reason for the emergency landing? The aircraft had run out of fuel.
And the reason for the flight? Martin Mercer, the pilot, was flying from Hyattville to Greybull for a doctor's appointment.
"It was just a regular old medical appointment," said WHP spokesman Aaron Brown. "We got the plane off the road and worked traffic control to make sure no one ran into it."
Brown confirmed that Mercer made it into Greybull for his appointment. Once the aircraft, a fixed-wing single-engine Maule M-7-260C, was refueled, both lanes of U.S. 14 were temporarily blocked off so Mercer could take off and fly home to Hyattville.
"We didn't issue any citations because this was an emergency landing," Brown said. "Part of being a WHP trooper is taking care of people, and that's exactly what we did. It was pretty cut and dry."
The $100 Burger
Most people in the United States get to the doctor's office in a vehicle, whether it's their personal car, a bus, or a service like Uber or Lyft. If you have wings, why wouldn't you fly?
Longtime pilot and flight instructor Mitch Semel said people who own private aircraft are completely entitled to use their aircraft for whatever they'd like. In fact, it can be much more efficient.
"One of the great things about having your own plane is that you have the freedom and luxury to fly straight," he said. "I had a client in State College, Pennsylvania, which is a four-hour drive from the suburbs of New York, but only 30 to 40 minutes by plane."
Semel referenced "the $100 hamburger," a common term in aviation that refers to the benefits and costs of traveling by aircraft.
"It originated 50 years ago when pilots would look for any excuse to fly," he said. "The hamburger might have cost us $8 at the end of the day, but I would have spent $100 on the fuel flying there and back. But that was never the point. It was just the fun of doing it."
Today, people use personal aircraft for a variety of personal and professional reasons. Semel said the number of uses is "as varied as the number of owners."
In more remote states like Wyoming, using private aircraft is easier and can be more practical. Semel compared Wyoming to Alaska in that regard.
"Alaska has the highest proportion of certificated pilots per population, because there are a lot of places that are only accessible by plane or only practically accessible because it would be hours and hours of driving," he said. "It makes more sense in population-sparse areas.”
Doctors’ Distances
In Western states like Wyoming, doctors are also farther away than most states.
On average, it takes people in Wyoming and other mountain states an average of 13.7 minutes to travel to the nearest hospital, according to the Pew Research Center. Only two regions of the country have longer distances.
Just this year, Sublette County became the last Wyoming county to finally have a hospital of its own with the opening ofSublette County Hospital. Up until then, residents in the region had been driving 70 minutes or more for medical care.
On Air In The Air
When traveling in a road vehicle, anyone can get up and go without alerting anyone. Does the same apply to a private aircraft?
According to Semel, it depends on where you are. Wyoming pilots can freely fly between several communities without alerting anyone, although it's considered best practice to announce your flight plan somewhere.
"There are two things you can do," he said. "Pilots can file a VFR, meaning visual flight rules, that say they're planning to take off from Airport A and arrive at Airport B with the times of departure and arrival. The other way is called a flight following, where you talk to air traffic controllers all along the way."
The website FlightAware tracks the flight log of any aircraft flying in the U.S. Using that information, Semel determined that Mercer's aircraft often performs position-only flights, meaning it has radar surveillance equipment on board that can be detected by air traffic control systems.
Another determining factor for the freedom of flight is location. Semel said the United States' airspace was divided into different lettered sections in the 1980s, using letter grades to determine the rule and restrictions around the nation's busiest airspace.
"Class A is the highest airspace where commercial jets fly," he said. "The busiest airports in the busiest cities are Class B. Denver International Airport is Class B, and you need explicit permission to go through those."
Semel said most of Wyoming's airspace would fall under Class D, so pilots have mostly unrestricted freedom to fly, weather permitting.
You Can Do That?
Mercer was heading to the doctor after an incident with one of his cattle.
"I got run over by a cow and my wife had gotten me an appointment with (Dr. Brett) Ohman for my birthday, so that’s what I was doing,” he told the Greybull Standard. “The engine never did quit all the way, but it was sputtering pretty good. Good way to start a Monday."
Wyoming pilots occasionally make emergency landings on highways, and will sometimes take off from those highways after making repairs.
Because they're the safest option in what could be life-or-death circumstances. That's why Mercer wasn't cited for his emergency landing on U.S. 14.
"We don't encourage pilots to land on highways, but if you're running out of gas, you either land on the highway or you crash into the forest," Brown said. "Given the choice between the two, you're going to do what saves your life in the moment."
That doesn't mean it was an entirely happy landing. Mercer had to use his experience to get himself and the aircraft down in one piece.
"There was some traffic (from the west), with one lady coming over the hill, but when I met her, I was able to get over quite a ways so she could pass,” he told the Greybull Standard. “The worst part, there’s a power line right there going across the road. That could have been a little dicey.”
So, yes, anyone with a private aircraft in Wyoming can choose to fly into town for their groceries, business meetings, and medical appointments. It's at the discretion of the pilot.
"A lot of this comes down to weather conditions and visibility, but people can use their aircraft for all manner of reasons, personal and professional," Semel said. "I don't think I've heard of flying for a doctor's appointment, but that's not to say people don't do it."
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
