Neither He Or Two Passengers On Board Were Seriously Injured

A pilot of a Piper PA-28 airplane made an emergency landing on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx borough of New York on Saturday, and all three of the people on board the aircraft escaped with injuries described as "minor."

The 50-year-old pilot had two women, ages 43 and 20, on board the aircraft when it went down. They had departed Danbury Airport in Connecticut for a sightseeing flight around the Statue of Liberty, according to the New York Daily News. On the return trip to the airport, the plane lost all power. Pilot Michael Schwartz landed the plane in the center lane of the northbound expressway, causing extensive damage to the aircraft if the newspaper's photos are any indication, but not to the occupants.

Jarel Paul was driving a car on the expressway, and said Schwartz's Cherokee passed directly overhead as it landed. Paul said the propeller of the airplane was not turning at all as it approached the ground.

A Department of Transportation employee working on pothole repair on the road was credited with stopping traffic on the road with the crew's trucks after seeing the plane in distress.

The plane's main landing gear collapsed after a hard landing, and one of the passengers suffered a minor head injury. The passengers were identified as Kristina Terell and Monica Castillo.

The women's relationship to Schwartz is not known.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov