After her pilot husband made a forced landing on Interstate 80 and taxied 40 miles across Utah's western desert, you couldn't blame Kathleen Kostrzewa for being a bit put out.
"I don't want to fly again on a plane unless it says `United' on it," she said Tuesday. "I would have rather stayed home and had a Happy Meal."Andre Kostrzewa and his wife had flown to the State Line Casino in Wendover, Nev., on Monday night for dinner. They were on their way back when their single-engine Cessna 172 lost electrical power about 45 miles east of Wendover.
"It went completely out, and my radio and instruments were dead," said Kostrzewa, a 46-year-old electrical engineer from Salt Lake City.
After checking for power lines, he picked a spot to land. Using the headlights of a car to guide him, he touched down safely on the westbound lanes.
Kostrzewa, unable to take off again, decided to continue westbound toward Wendover. At a top speed of 30 mph, the plane began what would be a 11/2-hour ride.
Cars could not pass the plane on the two-lane freeway because of its 36-foot wingspan. A truck driver maneuvered his rig behind the plane and turned on his flashers to warn motorists.
A Utah Highway Patrol trooper stopped the plane about four miles from the Utah-Nevada border and made arrangements to tow it to the Wendover airport.