I was driving through Idaho on my way to Seattle and looking down the road which had a slight downward slope I spotted a lot of police cars and a few civilian cars about a half a mile down slope. When I arrived at the group of cars I was surprised to see two Piper Malibu’s’ parked off the road. I was a bit confused by this sight but I kept on driving. Upon my return through the same area I stopped at the Sheriffs’ office and inquired as to the two airplanes. He told me that it happens quite often. Aircraft would call into the local ATC and advise them that the fog level was too high and the mountains were buried somewhere in the fog bank. The ATC would call the Sheriffs’ office and they would block off highway 90 allowing the aircraft to land unrestricted on the highway.
