The plane with a 48-foot wingspan made a safe landing on the freeway due to bad weather.
(BAKER CITY) - A 34-year Oregon State Police veteran thought he had seen it all until he saw an amphibian-style airplane in his rearview mirror after it made an emergency landing Sunday morning on Interstate 84 about fifteen miles east of Baker City due to poor weather conditions.
The plane was able to take off about three hours later with the assistance of Oregon State Police troopers and Oregon Department of Transportation personnel.
On Sunday, February 25th at about 10:50 AM, OSP Senior Trooper Robert Hereau was stopped on Interstate 84 eastbound near milepost 320 at the scene of a non-injury traffic crash when he heard a loud noise.
According to Sergeant Darin Helman, the senior trooper looked in his rearview mirror and saw an airplane taxiing on the eastbound lanes coming up behind the patrol car.
Senior Trooper Hereau allowed the 1952 DeHavilland DHC-2Mark1 "Beaver" amphibian plane go past the patrol car and continue eastbound until it found a wide area on the side of the freeway to pull off to allow other traffic to be able to pass the plane which has about a 48-foot wingspan. Senior Trooper Hereau followed the plane up to the point where it was able to stop and contacted the two occupants.
The pilot, 55-year old Jerry Alan Scudero, from Ketchikan, Alaska, told OSP that he was flying the plane to a Pendleton-area airport while enroute to Alaska when weather conditions began to "sock in" the plane. Scudero said he had to make an emergency landing on the freeway and had been taxiing for about two miles to find a wide area to pull off onto when he saw the OSP trooper.
Neither Scudero or his passenger, 58-year old Jerry Foresyth, from Saanichton, British Columbia, were injured.
With the assistance of ODOT and a local tow company, the plane was later moved back onto the eastbound lanes when weather conditions improved.
At about 1:30 PM, the plane was able to take off again and resume on its trip.
Amphibian Airplane Makes Emergency Landing on Interstate 84 East of Baker CitySalem-News.com