I don't know. Doesn't seem overly foolish to me: it is a plane he's using, not a schoolbus. And he's not counting on his engine, just the physics and the known flight characteristics of his aicraft....which he probably knows like the back of his hand. Plus a skilled pilot should be able to land a plane with no power.
He picked a clear day, presumably little to no wind, and knew the area (I'm also going to assume he checked his takeoff slope for anything that would really mess him up). His landing zone was massive...lots of room for error. The takeoff was a bit weird, but running a plane down a hill to takeoff isn't unheard of either (bush pilots with ski landing gear do this all the time on glaciers for instance, albeit under power)
Actually, having flown with a few bush pilots myself, but almost seems a bit tame...those guys are generally nuts, and regularly fly in conditions that make this look like a walk in the park. ;-)
Craig Ferguson interviews Olivia Williams
Man takes off, flies and lands airplane - with no power.
He picked a clear day, presumably little to no wind, and knew the area (I'm also going to assume he checked his takeoff slope for anything that would really mess him up). His landing zone was massive...lots of room for error. The takeoff was a bit weird, but running a plane down a hill to takeoff isn't unheard of either (bush pilots with ski landing gear do this all the time on glaciers for instance, albeit under power)
Actually, having flown with a few bush pilots myself, but almost seems a bit tame...those guys are generally nuts, and regularly fly in conditions that make this look like a walk in the park. ;-)