On a Minnesota highway, the driver of a Kia Soul was driving carefully, observing all traffic regulations, but trouble came not from road users, but straight from the sky…
Strange as it may sound, the car was hit by a light plane making an emergency landing.. The pilot of a Piper PA-28 aircraft from the Thunderbird Aviation School was flying along a dedicated air corridor on November 28 when a malfunction occurred at 10:30 – the power supply completely disappeared.
After receiving this signal, the controller at the tower of a neighboring airfield cleared the airspace for an emergency landing.. But the plane didn't arrive. Having heard the dispatcher's request to clarify the situation, all the pilots of other aircraft who were in the flight zone at that time began to study the area.
Some time later, the controller received a message from one of the pilots that a Piper PA-28 had landed on Highway 81 in Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis.
As it turned out, the 23-year-old pilot was forced to urgently make an emergency landing to avoid a plane crash.. Since there were dense residential buildings around, he decided to take the bus directly onto the highway.
Photo: Elizabeth Shockman/MPR News
Experts subsequently concluded that the pilot made the right decision. He successfully landed his emergency aircraft on the highway, minimizing the extent of the damage caused by the emergency.
The only thing that could not be avoided was a collision with the Kia Soul at the end of landing. No one was injured in this air traffic accident. The driver of the car tried to avoid being hit by a rapidly approaching plane. The nearly out-of-control air machine pushed the Kia out of its lane, spun it around, and pushed it into the outermost pocket lane for a right turn.
Photo: townsquare.media
Before that, the plane cut several power lines during its descent, cutting off power to about 1,100 people for about an hour.
As a result of the incident, the pilot received minor injuries and was not taken to hospital.. Although the 32-year-old driver of the Kia, who had no one else inside, was taken to the hospital with non-critical injuries.
Photo: kstp.com/kstp-new
Unlike a classic road accident, the pilot and driver did not find out who was at fault, did not provide an advantage in traffic, did not let them pass, or “bought a license”. While firefighters, police and an ambulance arrived, the guys talked politely and were happy that everything ended well for them and other road users.
Video: WCCO – CBS Minnesota