September 14, 2007
Friday Rush Hour
Atlanta traffic is among the worst in the country and Fridays are ridiculous, the only thing to make it worse is a huge storm at rush hour. So here it is Friday late afternoon and I'm trying to get to town to play a job at the Capital City Club in Brookhaven. The commute starts well, but a few miles north of "Spaghetti Junction" everything comes to a halt. After 20-30 minutes of stop-and-slow I get around a five-car pile up underneath spaghetti junction. Now I'm running a little bit late but should still make it on time. Not even a mile later there is a car sitting broadside in the interstate slammed into the center median. I give up on the highway and get on Dresden drive cutting through the old neighborhoods toward Brookhaven. Suddenly I notice news choppers hovering in the sky and as I near Peachtree-Dekalb Airport there are rescue vehicles and TV news crews everywhere. Please Lord I just want to get to work! A jet had slid off the runway and was dangerously near the fence around the airport and only yards from the road I was on.
As it turns out I was only slightly late for the engagement but was setup and ready to play before the guest arrived.
Approaching Spaghetti Junction as the storm begins to clear up.
Jet sitting off the end of the runway at PDK airport.
Plane Runs Off Runway at PDK Airport from 11alivenews.com
Wow, kind of looks like a belly slide or wheels collapsed! I used to live off Dresden Dr. back in the 80's. I remember a "Doctor Killer" (twin engine turbo prop) slapping a power line when he turned without permission too early out of the pattern. My wife and I heard a scary loud bang and looked up. He flew right overhead about 200' up in a really steep angle of attack fighting to get altitude. I could see the pilot's face plain as day. About a minute later there was a huge explosion a couple of streets over. I thought for sure he crashed. Turned out a broken high tension power line fell across a house's gas main, shorted out and ignited the gas. Luckily no one was home cause the house was a burnt cinder in minutes. The pilot(ironically was a doctor) flew on without returning to the airport. The FAA was waiting for him when he landed in Texas. Always something interesting going on at PDK.
Posted by: Marshall at September 15, 2007 06:22 PM