Watch airplane hover over cars before emergency landing on North Carolina interstate
A small airplane experiencing engine trouble pulled off an emergency landing over the weekend on an unexpected tarmac — and a driver’s dash cam caught it all on video.
The plane — a small yellow passenger aircraft — touched down on Interstate 40 in Western North Carolina near mile marker 90 just after 5:30 p.m. Saturday, McDowell County Emergency Management said in a Facebook post. No one was injured.
“Prior to the emergency landing, McDowell County 911 received multiple calls reporting an airplane in distress,” the post states.
Footage from a driver’s dash cam shows the plane swooping in from overhead and hovering above the interstate for a few seconds before its wheels bounce on the pavement. The plane then hits a guardrail, pitching the nose forward.
The pilot is seen exiting almost immediately as other drivers stop their cars and run to help.
“This was quite unbelievable to be driving along and an airplane plops down out of nowhere,” the driver wrote in a Facebook post sharing the video. “The camera sees the plane before I do, I’m pretty tall and cam is in top of window.”
The Nebo Fire Department, Marion Fire Department, McDowell EMS, N.C. Highway Patrol and the McDowell Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, emergency management officials said.
Only the pilot was on board and “exited the aircraft on his own behalf,” according to officials.
The plane is an 11AC made by Aeronca Aircrafts and was experiencing engine trouble before it landed on the interstate and struck a guard rail near Nebo, North Carolina, according to a preliminary report filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Nebo is an unincorporated township about an hour and a half northwest of Charlotte.
