Highway runway! Flight instructor and student pilot make daring emergency landing on notoriously traffic-packed California freeway after engine problem
- A single-engine Cessna airplane carrying a flight instructor and student pilot was forced to make an emergency landing on Memorial Day
- 32-year-old flight instructor Brian Carson made a mayday call shortly after the plane left Camarillo Airport, about 50 miles north of Los Angeles
- The mayday call was picked up by nearby air traffic officials at Van Nuys Airport, who alerted the Los Angeles police and fire departments
- Carson managed to successfully land the small aircraft on the notoriously busy 101 Freeway near Agoura Hills, where authorities were able to guide it down an exit ramp
- No one was injured despite the emergency landing, authorities say
A single-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a busy California freeway on Memorial Day after a flight instructor and student encountered engine problems during a lesson, according to authorities.
The Cessna aircraft was flying near Los Angeles around 7pm when flight instructor Brian Carson of Laguna Niguel made a mayday call shortly after departing from Camarillo Airport. The plane then landed on the notoriously traffic-packed 101 Freeway in Westlake Village.
No injuries were reported and Carson managed to land the plane without hitting any vehicles, CHP officer Weston Haver confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.
‘The freeway had to be shut down,’ Haver said of the incident, which disrupted traffic at the tail end of the Memorial Day weekend.
Air traffic controllers at Van Nuys Airport intercepted the 32-year-old flight instructor’s mayday call after he radioed that he might need to make an emergency landing in the Calabasas area. The reason for the emergency landing was not immediately clear, Haver told the news outlet.
The small aircraft radioed a mayday call shortly after departing from Camarillo Airport on Monday. Authorities say a flight instructor and pilot trainee were on-board the plane during the emergency landing
Carson was with 29-year-old pilot trainee Trevor Peterson of Huntington Beach at the time of the wild landing.
‘The officer in command was able to take over and safely land the plane,’ California Highway Patrol officer Craig Martin told ABC News near the scene of the landing.
‘The only thing we got was that the pilot was coming down low and fast, so we were able to get officers to slow down traffic,’ Martin added.
The flight instructor, 32-year-old Brian Carson, managed to guide the plane, which was experiencing engine problems, on to the 101 Freeway in California, disrupting traffic and travelers over the Memorial Day weekend
Carson managed to land the plane in the cleared-out southbound lanes of the freeway before emergency personnel guided the craft down a nearby exit ramp
Carson landed in the cleared-out southbound lanes of the freeway, according to authorities.
The Times reports that rescue workers were able to move it down one of the freeway’s exit ramps in nearby Agoura Hills in less than an hour, however authorities said several highway signs had to be removed in order to make space for its wings.
Traffic was forced to a standstill as personnel worked to move the plane off of the freeway.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, according to ABC News.