Retired airline pilot credits decades of training after landing vintage plane on Phoenix street

PHOENIX — A retired American Airlines captain with 44 years of flying experience safely glided a 1946 amphibious plane onto a central Phoenix roadway Sunday afternoon after losing engine power, threading the plane under a lane-control sign without injuring anyone on the ground.

Capt. Mike Tragarz, who retired from American Airlines, recounted the harrowing flight in an interview with KTAR 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos.

A sightseeing trip in an antique aircraft

Tragarz was piloting a Republic RC-3 Seabee, an 80-year-old amphibious aircraft, on a sightseeing tour of the Phoenix Valley with two passengers.

Flight-tracking data shows that Tragarz took off from the Hangar Hacienda Airport just after 2 p.m. He was flying safely north near Glendale when trouble started.

“Mike, I think there’s some smoke coming out the back on the left-hand side of the aircraft,” Tragarz recalled a passenger saying. “And I look back there and sure enough – I don’t think we’re on fire, but we’re smoking.”

The single-engine plane lost power shortly after.

“We have no power. Everything’s full forward,” Tragarz said, explaining how he had pushed every engine control to its maximum setting in a final attempt to restore power. “We cannot recover the engine.”

The moment Tragarz decides to land on a Phoenix street

Flying at roughly 2,500 feet outside Sky Harbor International Airport’s airspace, Tragarz said he initially considered diverting to the airport and reached to change his radio frequency to declare an emergency. But with the engine gone and the plane gliding, there was no time.

“This whole incident was two minutes and 10 seconds from the beginning to touchdown,” Tragarz explained.

“I was making that right-hand turn to head for Sky Harbor, and I was just about crossing Seventh and I looked out and I’m like, there it is right there,” he said. “Made the commitment. That was it.”

He lined up with Seventh Street near Missouri Avenue when he saw how relatively empty the streets were. Red lights at both ends of the stretch happened to be in sync, holding cars in place.

“This is a miracle. There’s nobody there. Sunday at two o’clock,” Tragarz said.

Following the aircraft’s off-airport landing procedure, Tragarz kept the landing gear up and brought the plane down on its belly to maximize friction and minimize the distance the plane would roll.

He cleared overhead power lines at roughly 40 feet, then pushed the nose down to duck beneath a lane-control sign spanning the road, touching down about 10 to 15 feet beyond it.

Both passengers were also licensed pilots. One, a friend from Israel now based in the Phoenix area, and the other, the head of the Seaplane Association in Montenegro, were uninjured.

The Phoenix Fire Department said all three occupants exited the aircraft and were evaluated at the scene.

No residents, vehicles or structures were hit. The landing caused water main damage, and police closed Seventh Street between Missouri Avenue and Colter Street for several hours.

Tragarz credited the airline training he received over four decades of commercial flying.

“Muscle memory kicks in, and so you start the procedures. Pucker factors just don’t help the situation,” he said, responding to a question about how he handled nerves in a maneuver like this.

Tragarz said the Federal Aviation Administration will check out the aircraft Thursday, with the National Transportation Safety Board doing the same on Monday. He said officials would determine the cause of the engine failure before the plane’s owner decides if it is worth repairing.

Asked on the show whether he would fly the vintage Seabee again, Tragarz did not hesitate.

“Oh, absolutely,” the pilot said.

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