- A small plane landed on I-78 after engine trouble over Pennsylvania.
- Pilot, passenger, and drivers all escaped unharmed in the incident.
- Federal investigators opened a probe into how the emergency unfolded.
It’s never good to lose an engine when one is in an airplane that is currently high above the ground. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what one pilot experienced in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Not only did this pilot manage to land the plane safely, but he did so while also avoiding drivers as he put his plane down on the highway.
Just before 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, a 65-year-old pilot from Michigan safely landed his plane across two eastbound lanes of I-78 in Weisenberg Township, Lehigh County. According to WPVI, the aircraft had departed Solberg Airport in New Jersey and was headed for Indiana when the pilot reported engine trouble while flying over Pennsylvania.
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Pennsylvania State Police say the pilot radioed that he did not want to land on the highway, but quickly realized it was the only option left. Incredibly, he managed to bring the plane down without hitting a single vehicle. Witnesses who saw the landing say it looked more like something out of a movie than a real-life emergency.
“It was an Easter miracle,” Victor Machese, who was driving nearby, said. According to him, the pilot kept the plane perfectly centered between the median and the shoulder, despite the aircraft stretching nearly the full width of two lanes.
Another witness, Chase Galanti, said the pilot never appeared panicked as the aircraft came down. “He must have done the right things and kept his cool,” Galanti said. That calm may have made all the difference. Neither the pilot nor his 34-year-old passenger from New Jersey was injured, and remarkably, no one on the interstate was hurt either.
Several emergency crews converged on the scene to assist. “We don’t anticipate an aircraft landing on your highway,” said Weisenberg Volunteer Fire Chief Justin Oswald. Still, the response appears to have gone as smoothly as the landing itself. Crews eventually escorted the plane off the interstate and to an airport in Allentown, while other responders temporarily blocked ramps and exits.
The FAA has already opened an investigation into the incident. No doubt, a detailed report will be the result weeks or potentially months from now. But what really matters is that the pilot kept his cool and everything went as smoothly as anyone could have hoped for in such an emergency.
