Plane Taking Off in Traffic… Only in Alaska

While I’ve never been myself, I’ve seen enough reality television to know that life is just a little different in Alaska. In one of few states where you can still mine for gold and make a living, towns and cities are sometimes separated by hundreds of miles of roadway and not much else, so it’s often not only more convenient but legitimately necessary to have a plane handy to get from town to town.

Of course, there aren’t airports, or even landing strips, just everywhere either, so pilots often have to improvise and use whatever flat, level, smooth surface they can find to takeoff and land. If there isn’t anything available as far as designated landing and takeoff areas, they just might have to take to the highway to get airborne, and that’s exactly what this pilot does.

We aren’t sure of the legality of taking off and landing on public roadways, but we’re assuming somewhere like Alaska either has made it legal, or the authorities look the other way as long as the pilot uses necessary caution and doesn’t impede traffic. This particular pilot does a great job, waiting on a couple of cars to pass before taxiing out onto the highway to orient the plane in the middle of the road. With the nose pointed straight down the road, he goes wide open throttle and, within seconds, has the plane in the air, climbing and circling off to the right and into the distance.

Whether it’s legal or not, you have to admit it’s pretty cool to see a plane taking off from the middle of a public highway, especially when he does such a good job. We’ve seen other videos of planes taking off from highways, even some of fighter jets doing so, but it just never gets old. Do any of you guys out there have planes? If so, have you ever taken off or landed on a public roadway?