A pilot flying a Cessna 206 plane was forced to make a daring emergency landing on a Long Island highway Wednesday, dodging traffic among other obstacles. Drivers on the motorway managed to capture amazing footage of the extraordinary moment on camera.
Pilot Jim O’Donnell had just taken off from Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley when his plane experienced a sudden mechanical failure.
Luckily nobody was injured in the incident.
“It wasn’t good, but here I am,” O’Donnell told ABC7. “No bent metal.”
O’Donnell knew he was unlikely to reach his destination of Eagles Nest Airport in New Jersey, and was forced to take matters into his own hands to avoid disaster.
O’Donnell’s Cessna touched down on Sunrise Highway at approximately 1pm local time but only after successfully navigating the traffic already on the road, dodging a highway sign and flying under an overpass without even a scratch on the plane, which rolled to a stop on the hard shoulder.
“From what we understand, from the preliminary information, is he came in over the street sign that stretches across the westbound Sunrise Highway and was able to land in between that and the overpass,” Suffolk County police Chief of Department Stuart Cameron said, as cited by ABC.
“And he came in under the overpass. He kind of threaded the needle there, and it looks like he did a pretty nice job under the circumstances. He didn’t hit any cars, and no one got hurt,” Cameron added.
Just hours before, a helicopter reportedly carrying Shane McMahon, the son of WWE CEO Vince McMahon, was forced to make an emergency landing in the Atlantic ocean offshore of Gilgo Beach, New Jersey. There were no injuries reported in that incident either.
https://www.rt.com/viral/396893-emergency-landing-new-york-highway/
Awesome piloting!
mad skills
HMMM. In the first video you can hear him cut off his engine and see the propeller stop!!! I’m just wondering what the ‘mechanical’ failure was? AND, is it a coincidence that the police car just happens to be right there as he landed and stopped the plane? How is it that stories today produce more questions that go unanswered? I’m losing my hair from scratching my head so much. But, that doesn’t hurt as much as the 2×4 to the head. 🙂
Trust me. I fly a Cessna like that one. He just got lucky. No mad piloting skills required. He could’ve landed in the median without risking anyone’s life.
Thanks for bringing us down to reality, and diminishing the pilots “awesome piloting” skills. 🙂
The cop’s radar probably went nuts, he dropped his donut and raced to the scene.
The Cop probably gave him a speeding ticket.