A single-engine plane landed on U.S. Route 1 in Sanford, North Carolina, Thursday after having engine trouble. The plane also struck at least one car as it descended to the asphalt.
The pilot was the only person on board the plane, which came down near the Raleigh Executive Jetport at Sanford-Lee County Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Reports first came in about the plane in distress at around 3:55 p.m., the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told WNCN-TV.
While landing, pilot Alec Bivens, a California man, struck the passenger side of a northbound car driven by Gabriela Estrada, a Sanford resident. Debris from that collision then struck another northbound car being driven by Mary Matsik of Cary, North Carolina, according to WNCN-TV.
“I mean, he was probably like three feet off the ground when I saw him, so I don’t think he had very long to go. And, there was no big explosion or anything behind me, but you could tell like the traffic on both sides was kind of, you know, freaking out about it, but he had like a whole line of cars behind him,” witness Chris Sealey, who was driving southbound, told WRAL-TV.
Only one of the cars sustained damage, and there were no injuries, Moncure Fire Department Chief Robert Shi told the Associated Press. Chief Shi added that the plane suffered a propeller failure, which in turn led to an engine failure, and that the plane landed on its belly without the landing gear being deployed.
Mr. Bivens had left Lynchburg Regional Airport at around 3:05 p.m. and was trying to reach Odell Williamson Municipal Airport in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
The FAA is continuing to investigate the incident.