Wrong Runway by Mark Klockner

You didn’t restrict me to anything current so this event took place back in 1978 at a regional mall in Ohio. Needless to say, the event is scarred into my memory still today. But like most stories, this one has a happy ending for me and the victims. 

It was a foggy fall morning that forced me to get to the mall a few minutes late. Like always, the day was fully in progress with work as usual. My maintenance superintendent met me in the service court and said the mall pick up was broken down and they needed to use my car to run errands. Off they went. 

Walking into the mall office I was thinking, this is going to be a great day. I wasn’t wrong. My AA, after five minutes, casually stated that a plane had just landed on the roof of the mall. Now, sitting at my desk reading the Wall Street Journal, my AA advises me that UPI is on the phone and wants to talk to me. My reaction now is…What kind of plane was that? She said, “A twin engine! I was wondering why you didn’t react differently”. (Model airplaner’s often used the field in back of the mall.) After finding out where the plane was, I took the call. They asked, ”do I have any comments on the crash.” Nervously, I state, “basically we have a problem”. That’s all I could say! 

Knowing that my car was gone, I commandeered my AA’s car. That is when I realized I should pay her more; the car was a disaster and full of junk and didn’t want to start. After finally getting it started, I’m now rolling to the front of the mall where I find the entire city mobilized around the Sears TBA.  It turns out that the plane landed on the roof of the free standing TBA, truly a feet most would have deemed impossible.  Bucket trucks, firemen, ambulances and traffic jam on the frontage road, reminiscent of Chicago or New York, were there already attending to the crash. 

Realizing there was nothing I could do by myself, I mobilized the entire maintenance team, and throw every crowd control barrel, rolls of yellow security tape and head back out to the disaster scene. Quickly we secure the entire area working in concert with the local firemen and police. 

This was none too soon. The mall owner’s corporate office shows up in their Cadillac’s, full to overflowing. They jumped from their cars looking for a familiar face. We were then praised for our quick call to action! (I knew better but never refuted) 

You may be wondering what happened to the people in the plane. It turns out that they mistook the lights in the parking lot for runway lights. The fog had blurred their vision to that extent! The pilot managed to put the plane down on the roof but came to a screeching halt when the plane slammed into an elevation change on the roof sending cement blocks flying in the inside of the building. A mechanic was injured inside and all four people in the plane were lifted from the roof in extreme critical condition. All eventually recovered from the crash. 

I can only look back and ask, “Model Airplane, duhhhhh”.