Shopping for an airstrip: Cessna ends up in Northway Mall parking lot, no injuries

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Cessna at Northway Mall in Anchorage. Photo credit Reddit contributor

A Cessna 182 landing at Merrill Field in Anchorage didn’t quite make the runway, but instead ended up in the parking lot of the Northway Mall in Anchorage on Sunday. The mall is on Penland Parkway just west east of the air field and only has a couple of commercial tenants; the parking lot was mostly empty.

The tail number on the Cessna is N3206U, and the plane is privately owned, registered to a former commander of Alaska Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

No injuries were reported and Anchorage police and Anchorage Fire Department were on the scene in the afternoon.

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    • There doesn’t appear to be hardly any snow. I was trying to spot the nose gear. No track in the snow and I don’t see it folded up unless that’s it behind the right wheel. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming. Looks like a walkaway thought. Probably nothing injured but pride.

  1. Heads up Suzanne: “The mall is on Penland Parkway just west of the air field”. Northway Mall is just East of Merrill. 😉
    Maybe this pilot made the same mistake. Perhaps they should have been flying a “Maul” instead of a 182. (Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge.)

  2. Underestimated his fuel usage. I almost had a Cessna land on me while riding a motorcycle on a rural highway in Washington. I looked up and saw the rivets in the belly and noticed the propeller wasn’t spinning. Hit the brakes and landed in front of me. Never have that experience again.

  3. Close call…a bit more forward and it would’ve been a very different story! Note to editor: Northway Mall is east of Merrill Field. It is a C-182 though, you got that right. Title for the story was pretty funny, shopping for an airstrip…haha…I don’t know if the damage qualifies for NTSB reportable as accident or not, but if so, they will get right on it and have an answer for the cause within about 10 years!

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