Plane makes emergency landing on road

Three people are lucky to be alive after the single-engine plane they were travelling in was forced to make an emergency landing on a busy Bronx expressway.

The plane had completed a loop around the Statue of Liberty and was returning to Danbury Airport in Connecticut when it suddenly lost power.

Air traffic controllers had attempted to divert the plane back to LaGuardia Airport but lost contact.

Pilot Michael Schwartz, 50, was then forced to make the remarkable landing in the middle lane of the Major Deegan Expressway – managing to avoid all cars in the process.

The aircraft began dropping directly over witness Jarel Paul's car.

"The propeller wasn't moving, and it went down right over us. It was gliding, he was trying to make a safe landing," Mr Paul told the New York Daily News.

Mr Schwartz and his passengers two woman, ages 43 and 20, emerged from the aircraft relatively unscathed and suffered only minor injuries.

"It is amazing," said Giovanna Schwartz, the relieved wife of the hero pilot.

"I'm just thankful he learned how to land well."

Source: New York Daily News
Author: Natasha Lee, Approving editor: Simon Black