A small, single-engine airplane was forced to make an emergency landing on Highway 101 near San Jose on Saturday. No injuries were reported to any of the four passengers in the aircraft, said California Highway Patrol (CHP), Los Angeles Times reported.
The pilot of the aircraft, Wyatt Grow, noticed that the plane had encountered a problem with the engine, forcing the 20-year-old to make a desperate attempt to land the Piper PA-28 aircraft near Coyote Creek Gulf Drive in Morgan Hill, south of San Jose, according to NBC New York.
The plane landed safely at approximately 11:00 p.m. with one of its wings blocking traffic on the southbound lanes of the highway. The CHP closed down the two southbound lanes for around two hours until the airplane was towed off the freeway to San Martin Airport, Daily Mail reported.
Grow said that even though he was nervous, he tried to stay as calm as possible during the landing.
"Even though my heart was beating quickly, I went on the highway just as I would on any normal runway," he said. "Once I touched down it was a huge sigh of relief."
"I've never experienced anything like that in my life before," Grow added. "It was a sinking feeling ... I just hoped I was getting out of it alive."
Authorities said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would be conducting an investigation into the landing.
