Cop Cam Catches Warbird Landing on Highway

Vintage T-6 Texan trainer just misses motor home, trooper squad. 7/23/07.

When he stopped Sunday night to help an RV with a flat tire on Highway 41, Scott Hlinak never expected a near-miss with an airplane.

But as the Wisconsin State Patrol trooper was sitting in his squad on the side of the highway just north of Military Road, he saw a plane “flying low” right behind him. About 300 to 400 feet behind Hlinak was another trooper who had stopped to slow down traffic.

“The pilot of the 1951 Texan T-6 Warbird slammed the plane down between the two troopers,” said Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Ryan Waldschmidt. “Then he bounced it over the trooper and the motor home. Then it came down and rolled to a stop.”

No one was injured as the plane — which had suffered mechanical difficulties — landed at 7:43 p.m. on the busy highway.

Hlinak said the plane cleared the motor home by about 5 to 10 feet. There was no warning, he said.

“Fond du Lac had received information about a plane, but we didn’t know where the plane was,” Hlinak said. “I looked in the rear-view mirror, and I saw a low-flying plane. Then I realized it was descending very quickly. Then I realized it was headed toward us. More...

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