MONCURE, N.C. — A small plane with engine problems struck two vehicles as it landed on a highway near a North Carolina airport, but no injuries were reported, authorities said.
The single-engine Lancair 360 with only the pilot on board landed near the Raleigh Executive Jetport at Sanford-Lee County Airport in Sanford around 4:20 p.m. Thursday after experiencing engine problems, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The FAA will investigate.
The plane was en route from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight activity.
The plane struck two SUVs as it landed on U.S. Route 1, but only one suffered minor damage and no injuries were reported, Robert Shi, chief of the Moncure Fire Department, said in a statement Friday.
The pilot said he experienced a propeller failure that led to engine failure and had to make an emergency landing, Shi said. The plane’s landing gear failed to deploy, causing it to land on its belly, he said.
“Moncure Fire is grateful that this incident only resulted in property damage,” Shi said. “US1 is busy every afternoon and this incident could have been much worse.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said that of the two vehicles clipped by the plane, only one driver filed a report, WRAL-TV reported.
Chris Sealey told WRAL-TV that he saw a plane flying unusually low with no landing gear and thought it was a “weird-looking car” a few miles away.
“I mean, he was probably three feet off the ground when I saw him, so I don’t think he had very long to go,” Sealey said. “And there was no big explosion or anything like that behind me, but you could see the traffic on both sides was kind of freaking out about it, but he had a whole line of cars behind him.”