11 February 1988

Slip sliding away

We were returning to Middletown from a ski resort near Staunton, Virginia. I flew the localizer approach to minimums, 400 feet. I saw the runway an eighth-mile out, cut the power, put down full flaps, and dropped in landing 2,000 feet down the runway. It was snowing hard, and the runway was extremely slippery. All I could do was use the rudder to keep me from sliding off either side. I considered going around, while sliding at 60 knots with only 3,000 feet of runway left. But the airplane eventually stopped a couple hundred feet from the end of the runway. This was one of the most exciting approaches and landings I have ever done.

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