Incredible moment pilot of single engine plane is forced to make emergency landing in the middle of a North Carolina highway after suffering engine failure
- The single-engine aircraft descended on U.S. Route 19 in Swain County on July 3
- Two people were on board the plane at the time, with no injuries reported
- The emergency landing was tied to engine failure, pilot Vicent Fraser said
- He was checking out a purchased property near Fontana Lake with his father-in-law at the time of the incident
- The plane had to dodge traffic and cars going in both directions on the highway
A camera attached to a small plane in North Carolina shows the dramatic moment when its pilot is forced to make an emergency landing on an interstate highway over July 4th weekend.
The single-engine aircraft — believed to be an Aero Commander 100 — descended on U.S. Route 19, near a bridge in Swain County on July 3 at around 11:45 a.m, the local county’s sheriff office reported.
No injuries were reported, according to local outlets.
The plane’s pilot said the emergency landing was tied to engine failure and that his father-in-law was in the aircraft at the time, when they were viewing a purchased property near Fontana Lake.
‘I started going through my checklist and I was able to get the aircraft to restart and kind of fly a little bit, but she would only fly for 3 to 5 seconds, and then she would come back down and start to sink again,’ pilot Vincent Fraser told WMYA.
A single-engine aircraft was recorded by an onboard camera making an emergency landing on US-19 in Swain County, North Carolina on June 3, at around 11:45 after an engine failure. Two people were on board although no injuries were reported
The monoplane had to dodge highway traffic and avoid cars going in both directions to ensure a safe landing
Pilot Vincent Fraser (pictured), of Florida, said he was checking out a purchased property with his father- in-law near Fontana Lake at the time of the scary incident
Video shows the monoplane steadily coming down on the highway, as Fraser looked for a small gap between cars in order to avoid causing a dangerous accident.
The main road ended up being his best landing option to, considering it was the only piece of flat land in an otherwise mountainous area.
‘By the grace of God, I looked to my left, and you couldn’t see it before because, you know, it’s just all valleys and mountains, but there’s a road — that road that I landed on just right there, perfectly lined up,’ Fraser told WMYA.
The emergency landing (pictured on Sunday) was first reported as a plane crash to authorities
The scary experience came nearly a year after the Florida-native received his private pilot license in October. Fraser also has fewer than 100 hours of flight experience.
At the time of the emergency landing, authorities said they initially received 911 calls from motorists reporting a plane crash.
‘The call came in as a plane crash, so we’re just very thankful that it wasn’t, cause the circumstances would’ve been very different,’ Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran told The Smoky Mountains Times.
He added that the ‘pilot set the plane down in oncoming traffic just over the power lines and there was one car coming.’
Twitters users reacted in disbelief to shared footage of the small plane’s emergency landing
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is currently investigating the incident, the officer concluded.
Footage of the emergency landing on Twitter has more than 1,000 likes, with some users barely believing what happened.
‘Just trying to imagine what it would be like to be driving along minding my own business and all of a sudden a plane lands in my lane in front of me,’ one user wrote.
Another shared: ‘Holly Hell. Can you imagine being a driver?’
‘Jeeeeeez, they BARELY missed the power lines at the end,’ one Twitter user reacted.
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