Photo: Getty Images
A Florida pilot flying over North Carolina had to make an emergency landing along a busy highway, dodging traffic as it eventually came to a safe stop.
Vincent Fraser was flying the single-engine plane, accompanied by his father-in-law, on Sunday (July 3) as they were leaving a property near Fontana Lake in Swain County, per News 13. Around 11:50 a.m., the engine started to fail and Fraser had to make a quick landing in the safest place possible, which, given the nearby mountains, happened to be on Highway 19.
"I started going through my checklist and I was able to get the aircraft to restart and kind of fly a little bit, but she would only fly for 3 to 5 seconds, and then she would come back down and start to sink again," Fraser recalled. He added, "By the grace of God, I looked to my left, and you couldn't see it before because, you know, it's just all valleys and mountains, but there's a road — that road that I landed on just right there, perfectly lined up."
The Swain County Sheriff's Office shared stunning video of the surprise landing on its Facebook page, which was captured by the pilot's GoPro camera in the cockpit. In the video, the plane can be seen carefully navigating a path along a narrow stretch of highway lined by trees as the pilot dodges cars driving nearby and power lines crossing the roadway.
"What an OUTSTANDING job and no injuries," the post reads, in part. "AMAZING. If you look closely at 0:20 you will see the power lines the pilot was able to avoid. There were so many things that could have been catastrophic but they didn't happen."
According to the Daily Mail, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident. Check out the video below.
No injuries were reported as a result of the engine failure or emergency landing. Fraser, who got his pilot license in October and has around 100 hours of flying experience, plans to fly home to Florida this week.