A single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a busy road in Gainesville, Georgia, striking three vehicles and leaving two people with minor injuries, authorities said. The NTSB said the pilot experienced engine problems shortly after departing from Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport and turned the plane back, but did not have enough power to reach the intended destination airport. With the plane running out of options over ground traffic, the aircraft came down on Browns Bridge Road, one of the main arteries through northeast Georgia.
The NTSB said the Monday landing involved a Hawker Beechcraft Bonanza that was heading to Cherokee County Regional Airport in Canton from Gainesville’s Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport. According to the agency, the plane landed on the road after experiencing problems with the engine just after takeoff. The NTSB said the aircraft turned back because of the issue, but the pilot determined the plane could not make it to the airport given how far out it was.
Air traffic audio recorded by LiveATC.net captured one of the pilots telling controllers to contact his family. The recording included a message that, “Please tell my wife, Molly, I love her, and my parents. I love them so much.” More than 10 minutes later, the audio also captured the pilot saying, “We’re going to be fine.”
Gainesville police Capt. Kevin Holbrook said the plane struck three cars and dislodged a fuel tank into one of them. Holbrook said two people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. He also said the outcome was remarkable given the volume of traffic on the road at the time.
Holbrook said the fact that the aircraft was able to land in the middle of hundreds of vehicles and hit only three of them, with no power lines involved, was “very remarkable.” He added that the lack of serious injuries or fatalities was “just astonishing,” given the circumstances of the landing on an active thoroughfare.
Pilot Thomas Rogers told WAGA-TV that the crew lost engine power taking off out of Gainesville and attempted a glide back. Rogers said they “tried to glide back, did everything by the book, but realized we weren’t going to make it back with how far out we were, so we came down on the road.”
The NTSB said its investigation into the emergency landing is ongoing, including the circumstances surrounding the engine problem and how the crew handled the decision to land on the roadway rather than reach the airport.