Light aircraft makes emergency landing on California Interstate 5

A light aircraft made an emergency landing Tuesday on southbound
Interstate 5 near Del Mar in San Diego’s North County.

According
to the California Highway Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot attempted to land the single-engine Piper PA-32 in a nearby field but was
unable to do so and landed on the southbound side of the highway soon after
noon.

Also Read: Boeing 737 cargo makes emergency landing in Honolulu, both pilots rescued

Several
emergency vehicles were dispatched to the location as a result of the event.

Two occupants of the damaged cars were sent to the hospital for treatment of what
seemed to be minor injuries, such as superficial cuts from shattered glass. No
one else was injured, according to the first reports. The pilot and a passenger
in the Piper both walked away from the collision unharmed, said Jose
Ysea, a spokesman for the San Diego
Fire-Rescue Department.

Before
coming to a halt against a center-divider wall, the plane “clipped”
many vehicles, according to Ysea.

Also Read: In Pics: PM Modi’s maiden voyage on seaplane service between Kevadia and Sabarmati

Aerial
pictures obtained by NBC 7’s SkyRanger at the site showed the airliner losing
part of its right wing. The wing seemed to be around 500 feet distant from the
plane, parked alongside the highway. A portion of the plane looked to have
fallen on a car that had pulled over to the side of the road. It’s unclear if
the passengers of the car were hurt as a result of the landing.

The
cause of the emergency landing was not immediately known.

At the
scene, crews began cleaning the fuel after NBC’s Consumer Bob witnessed it pouring
into the northbound side of I-5.

Also Read: From Delhi to London: Vistara operates its first long-distance flight with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Traffic
was brought to a total halt on the highway just past Via De La Valle as a
result of the event. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department tweeted
at 1:30 p.m. that all southbound I-5 lanes at Via de la Valle would be blocked
as officials investigated the incident and worked to remove the aircraft off
the freeway.