A pilot made an emergency landing on a North Carolina highway after his plane’s engine shut down, as seen in a stunning video captured from the aircraft.
In the 75-second clip shared by the Swain County Sheriff’s Office, the plane can be seen descending towards the highway, with two cars beneath it traveling in the same direction and multiple vehicles passing by on the other side of the road.
Moments after passing one of the cars beneath it, the plane touches down, skidding towards oncoming traffic. The pilot manages to steer the aircraft back toward the other side of the road and come to a stop.
Vince Fraser and his father-in-law were flying in his single-engine plane over a densely forested area in the southern Appalachian mountains, in Swain County, on July 3 when his engine cut out, according to local news station WSPA.
Fraser, who had reportedly logged less than 100 hours of flight time, tried restarting the engine three times, but it shut down again each time. After the third time, it would not turn back on, he told WSPA.
At that point, he had exhausted his options, he said. He looked to his father-in-law and apologized for putting him in danger.
“I looked at him and I told him I was sorry, and that I loved him. From there on out, it’s just a commitment,” he said. “Let’s see what’s going to happen. Let’s do this the best we can.”
He looked for places to land, but couldn’t find anything suitable due to the woods. He started to aim for a bridge but realized as he approached that it had pedestrians on it.
Next, he spotted a river and decided to make a water landing. But as he lined up to land in the water, he saw the highway which had previously been obscured by trees. That’s when he descended and made the landing, flying under power lines to avoid hitting them.
Authorities reportedly arrived on the scene within minutes. The sheriff’s office said the pilot did an outstanding job and it was amazing that nobody was injured.
“There were so many things that could have been catastrophic but they didn’t happen,” it said on Facebook.
Fraser said the “traumatic” incident brought him and his father-in-law closer together.
A mechanic later determined the cause of the engine failure was a fuel shortage in one tank due to a blockage in a fuel line, WSPA reported.
Fraser and his father-in-law flew the plane home to Cape Coral in Florida several days later.
