Pilot, Three Passengers Uninjured In Emergency Landing

A Reno, Nevada Fire Department official was bringing three passengers back to Reno from a volunteer medical trip to Mexico when the Cessna 172 they were flying developed engine trouble.

“I knew I had to land the plane,” said Joe DuRousseau, 60, of Sparks, the pilot. And the best option open to him was Interstate 80.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that DuRousseau positioned his airplane between the cars on the freeway, and landed after flying under (yes, that's under) the Vista Boulevard overpass.

“I went to switch fuel tanks and it said there was 7.5 gallons left,” DuRousseau said. “Then the engine wouldn’t start and we had to land on the freeway. Traffic was light and I picked a spot between traffic.”

Joan and Aimee Abittan and Tamara Anderson were DuRousseau's passengers at the time of the landing. They are part of a California-based non-profit that provides medical services to rural villages in Mexico.

State highway officials closed I-80 for about an hour after the landing. The airplane, which had been converted to a taildragger, had a damaged tailwheel and rudder as a result of the landing. It was pushed to the side of the road, which allowed the traffic to begin moving again, and a crew later disassembled the plane, put it on a trailer, and take it to the airport.

The NTSB will investigate the incident.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov