- The Washington Times - Saturday, April 6, 2024

A single-engine plane landed on U.S. Route 1 in Sanford, North Carolina, Thursday after having engine trouble and struck a car as it descended to the asphalt.

No injuries were reported.

The pilot was the only person on board the plane, which came down near the Raleigh Executive Jetport at Sanford-Lee County Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Reports first came in about the plane in distress at 3:55 p.m., the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told Goldsboro CBS affiliate WNCN.

While landing, pilot Alec Bivens, a Californian, hit the passenger side of a northbound car driven by Gabriela Estrada, a Sanford resident. Debris from that collision then struck another northbound car driven by Mary Matsik of Cary, according to WNCN.

“I mean, he was probably like 3 feet off the ground when I saw him, so I don’t think he had very long to go,” witness Chris Sealey, who was driving southbound, told Raleigh NBC station WRAL-TV. “And there was no big explosion or anything behind me, but you could tell like the traffic on both sides was kind of, you know, freaking out about it, but he had like a whole line of cars behind him,”

Only one of the cars sustained damage and no one was injured, Moncure Fire Department Chief Robert Shi told The Associated Press.

Chief Shi added that the plane suffered propeller and engine failure, with the aircraft landing on its belly without the landing gear being deployed.

Mr. Bivens had left Lynchburg Regional Airport in Virginia at 3:05 p.m. and was trying to reach Odell Williamson Municipal Airport in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, according to tracking website FlightAware.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.

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