Not The Jeep... The Piper

When we tell you a person navigating a Cherokee merged onto a major Michigan freeway this week, we’re not talking about a Jeep Cherokee -- we are talking about the aircraft.

Interstate 75 near Detroit doubled as a landing strip Tuesday, when the pilot of a Piper PA-28 Cherokee had to make an emergency landing. Two people were on board the plane and police say neither the pilot nor his passenger was injured in the crash. T

he pilot also managed to avoid hitting any vehicles, and traffic continued moving as police and firefighters worked to move the plane.

A local fire chief told WLNS-TV the plane was headed for Oakland County International Airport when its engine stalled. Police say the pilot tried to restart the engine in the air, but was not successful.

The Cherokee was about 2,000 feet in the air when the pilot made the decision to land in the median. The FAA is looking into the accident.

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IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 7810N        Make/Model: PA28      Description: PA-28 CHEROKEE, ARROW, WARRIOR, ACHER, D
  Date: 03/07/2006     Time: 2119

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
  City: FLINT   State: MI   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT CRASHED ON A HIGHWAY UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, FLINT, MI

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   2     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: VMC

OTHER DATA

  Departed:                             Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination:                          Flt Plan:              Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: DETROIT, MI  (GL23)                   Entry date: 03/08/2006

FMI: www.faa.gov