1500 Feet Above Biloxi...And Falling!

Note from Mayor Sam: Readers of the Sister City know we followed Northridge West Neighborhood Council President and Assembly candidate Jim Alger while he flew his own plane on a mission of mercy to help those in the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina. Here is the first part of Jim's story in his own words.

By Jim Alger
Exclusive to Mayor Sam's Sister City

A trip to another world...

I watched like everyone else did the destruction on the Gulf Coast. Help will be there in three days I thought to myself. That was Tuesday. By Friday it was becoming clear that for whatever reason help was not going to get there. Still another day passed before I inadvertently ran across NOLA.com, a Louisiana based newspaper which had postings from hurricane victims, and people offering assistance. Most of what I saw was homes being offered and civilian attempts to get aid to the area, along with horrible stories of need.

An idea struck me, I own a small plane. Perhaps we could fly people out little by little. I discussed it with some Neighborhood Council friends and wondered if Neighborhood Council funds could be used to offset the enormous fuel costs. So I called Greg Nelson on his cell, no answer. Better prepare a plan B. I could afford a few thousand dollars, could anyone else? The Neighborhood Council folks then said yes and before I knew it we had funds for supplies and some fuel. Greg Nelson returned the call…. Neighborhood Council funds couldn’t be used. That was it, we’re leaving tomorrow.

Monday, Sept 5, 4:00 a.m., I left Van Nuys Airport on the fourteen hour trip to New Orleans with a plane loaded with granola bars and cereal. Coordinating on my Blackberry with folks on the ground in Mississippi and Louisiana. I received a call from a City Councilman who heard I was enroute to the area. He was absolutely devastated. All the attention was on New Orleans, but he was in Biloxi with nothing. So some quick calculations and a turn 5 degrees to the north and now we were headed for Jackson, MS. The nearest large airport outside of the restricted airspace that went to 5,000 feet.

The trip almost ended before it began.

About five miles from the Jakson airport, at night and at the relatively low altitude of 2,000 feet the engine of the plane sputtered. This is about as bad as it gets. Immediately declared an emergency as this would get me cleared airspace and priority clearance to an airport. Except there was no way we were making it five miles. Air Traffic Control points out a roadway with an immediate turn to the north. There was no way that was going to end good but let’s just get the bird over the road and follow tail lights. The engine was becoming increasingly erratic, but was still running albeit barely. I hadn’t lost much altitude and could see the runway 45 degrees off to the left. Now the decision, do we go for the road or take a chance on the runway and risk missing both? As I said earlier, no way was a landing on the road at night going to end in anything less than a crash so I turned for the runway. 10 seconds later… nothing. Complete engine failure. Now all I had going for me was the 1500 feet in altitude I had between me and the ground. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. Attempting to stretch the distance as long as I could the plane finally stalled (no longer had enough air flow to keep it in the air) 5 feet over the end of the runway. It was a hard landing but I walked away from it. Ironically, the fire dept. was already at the airport… waiting for the supplies I was flying in.

Tomorrow… the evacuation begins.