In an emergency, that highway below you might look like a great place to land. But is it? Don’t miss our next online discussion with two pilots who’ve “been there and done that.”

By Jeb Burnside

Off-airport landings are a perennial subject whenever pilots get together, and rightly so. Among the topics inevitably coming up will be whether or not to land on a paved road. After all, you probably took off from pavement; why not try to land on it, too, that too-quiet engine in front of or beside you notwithstanding?

We last looked at this overall topic in our December 2006 issue. In that article, we basically concluded there’s no free lunch: While a paved road may offer the smoothest, most-familiar surface, it also poses a set of problems others may not—like wires, cars, signs, utility poles and other things you may or may not…