A Kia Soul hit out of nowhere, as a Piper PA-28 made an emergency landing on Minnesota highway
November 29, 2023 at 17:19
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A 23-year-old pilot who executed an emergency landing in a Minneapolis, Minnesota suburb is being praised for his composure during the ordeal. He successfully landed his troubled airplane on a highway, minimizing the extent of damage caused by the emergency.
The pilot, whose identity has not been released, was flying alone in a Piper PA-28 operated by the Thunderbird Aviation flight school. Shortly before 10:30 a.m. on November 28, he started experiencing issues, and radioed the control tower, saying he had lost power.
Flight control called out to other pilots in the area, asking them to halt their approaches while it dealt with this emergency, reports CBS News. A short time later, it received a message from another pilot in the area that the Piper PA-28 had landed on Highway 81, in Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis.
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Screenshot CCX Media/YouTube
On its way down, the plane clipped some power lines, cutting off electricity to around 1,100 people for about an hour. More alarmingly, it actually crashed into a Kia Soul, sending both vehicles spinning.
Fortunately, the pilot suffered only minor injuries in the incident, and was not taken to hospital. Although the 32-year-old driver of the Kia (its only occupant) was taken to hospital following the incident, officials say that his injuries were non-critical.
Despite the damage, officials, such as Brooklyn Park Fire Chief Shawn Conway, said that the pilot did a good job, under the circumstances. With plenty of residential homes and businesses in the area, as well as roads full of cars, the situation could have ended much worse.
“The fact that (the pilot) impacted one vehicle and was able to put the aircraft down … is probably a testament to his skills as a pilot,” Conway said.
I just saw a small plane crash into a car on bottineau boulevard absolutely wild pic.twitter.com/Jsn77udHRc
— k✏ (@KarlAlden) November 28, 2023