Wild video shows a small plane making an emergency landing on a crowded California highway during rush hour — miraculously avoiding hitting any cars.
The single-engine Cessna T206 touched down in the center median of the I-15 in San Diego around 4:45 p.m. on Monday after radioing an emergency call over engine failure, according to KGTV.
Video obtained by NBC San Diego shows the plane rolling down the middle of the highway as stunned drivers in traffic watched on
“Mayday! Mayday! 57-Lima Bravo (LB). Lost engine on left base,” the pilot radioed to air traffic control moments before landing on the roadway, according to logs on Live ATC.net reviewed by the KGTV, with .57-LB referring to the plane’s tail number.
Air Traffic Control tried to clear traffic on a runway for the pilot to land safely at a local airport, but the pilot, who stayed very calm, said he didn’t think he’d make it.
“I can’t,” the pilot replied. “I can’t restart it. I think I might hit the 15.”
The plane landed on the highway median and avoided all traffic so that no cars were struck.
The pilot and another person on board were uninjured, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
An official cause for the emergency landing has not been released by officials, but the pilot appeared to be citing on engine failure, according to KGTV.
The plane’s flightpath on FlightAware shows it took off from nearby Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport at 3:50 p.m. before flying along the coast to Oceanside. It then made a U-turn before being forced to make the emergency landing.
“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,” said Rich Martindell, a retired aircraft accident investigator, told KGTV.
The incident remains under investigation.
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