News
Small plane makes emergency landing on NY highway
Jan. 6, 2014, New York, N.Y. - A small plane made an emergency landing Saturday on an interstate highway in New York City, startling drivers but touching down safely with no serious injuries to anyone aboard, officials said.
January 6, 2014 By The Associated Press
The aircraft, a Piper PA-28, set down at around 3:20 p.m. on the
northbound side of the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx, in an area
where the highway passes through Van Cortlandt Park.
The Federal Aviation Administration said three people were on board.
All were taken to a hospital, but police and fire officials said neither
the male pilot nor two female passengers appeared to have been badly
hurt.
The FAA said damage to the aircraft was minor. Photos taken by
bystanders showed the blue-and-white plane largely intact, but resting
on its belly by the snowy edge of the road. The plane’s landing gear
appeared in the photos to have collapsed.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the plane set down. It didn’t strike any cars on the road, police said.
The highway was closed and emergency personnel were on the scene.
FAA records indicated the plane was registered to an owner in South Salem, New York.
Patricia Sapol, 29, of West Point, was driving south on the highway
with her husband when they saw emergency vehicles surrounding the downed
plane, about 15 minutes after the landing.
“We couldn’t believe it! We thought, ’Oh my god that’s a plane!’ It
was pretty incredible,” she said. “The fact that there was no actual
crash we thought was pretty surprising.”
