DEL MAR, Calif. – A small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on an interstate highway north of San Diego on Tuesday, authorities said.
Neither the pilot of the single-engine Piper PA-32 aircraft nor the passenger was injured, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. However, two motorists were injured when the aircraft clipped their vehicles, the newspaper reported.
The injured people suffered minor injuries, including superficial cuts from shattered glass, José Ysea, a spokesperson for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, told the Union-Tribune.
The plane landed on the southbound lane of Interstate 5 at about 12:15 p.m. PDT, KNSD reported. According to officials, the aircraft took off from Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa and was flying over La Jolla when the plane began having mechanical problems, KGTV reported. Officials said the pilot attempted to land in a nearby field but was unable to do so, the television station reported.
At least four vehicles were hit by the single-propeller plane, the Union-Tribune reported, including an Audi SUV that sustained a shattered windshield.
“I didn’t know at the time it was a plane,” Sarah Tribett told OnScene TV. “But it hit really hard and all of the sudden there was just glass everywhere … and I looked up and there was the plane, in front of us, just kind of all over the road.
“We basically broke the fall for the plane,” Tribett added. “Like it shattered back there all the way into the front seats. It was all over us like I had glass in my mouth.
“Our backseat is soaked in jet fuel. All my clothes and everything back there are drenched.”
The emergency landing snarled traffic for several hours, with the final lane reopening at about 5 p.m. CDT, the Union-Tribune reported.
“Anytime a plane lands on the freeway, it’s going to be pretty catastrophic,” California Highway Patrol spokesperson Officer Sal Castro told reporters. “Luckily it’s minor injuries and nobody sustained major injuries or even sustained any fatal injuries.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident. Officials with the FAA declined to identify the occupants of the aircraft, KNSD reported.
