The aircraft landed in amongst the traffic in rush hour (Image: NBC 7)
Shocked motorists were left stunned when a small plane made an emergency landing on a busy motorway.
The rush-hour chaos in California, US, was captured on camera as the light aircraft touched down in the central reservation. The plane remarkably avoided hitting any other vehicles as it rolled down the middle of the highway before coming to a sudden stop, much to the relief of the terrified pilot.
The man radioed to air traffic control moments before the sudden landing, and he was heard saying: “Mayday! Mayday! 57-Lima Bravo. Lost engine on left base.” Passengers in the cars below captured the moment the plane made its way down to the ground.
Air Traffic Control attempted to clear traffic on a runway for the pilot to land safely at a local airport, but and was told the plane wouldn’t make it. “I can’t,” the pilot later told control. “I can’t restart it. I think I might hit the 15.” The Federal Aviation Administration said the two people on board were uninjured.
The plane originally took off from Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport on Monday, before running into trouble at 4.45pm. The incident remains under investigation. Rich Martindell, a retired aircraft accident investigator, told KGTV. “At the altitude he was at, when the motor quit, he didn’t have a lot of places to go. He picked a good one.” (Mirror)
