Airplane Lost Power After Touch-And-Go, Landed On A Nearby Road

Pilot Eric Nichols and a student pilot friend Tanner Price have a story with a happy ending to tell ... perhaps in the lunchroom at Jenks High School.

Nichols, 18, was flying a Cessna 172 with his friend on board following his first day back at the school. They had departed from Riverside Airport (KRVS) in Tulsa, OK and did a touch-and-go landing at Tulsa International (KTIA), planning to fly on to Owasso.

But on the climb out from KTIA, Nichols said he was not able to develop more than 1900 RPM, and at about 100 feet of altitude, his VSI went to zero. He said he knew that there was not enough runway to put the plane back on the ground at the airport. News9.com reports that Nichols told controllers "I'm putting it down," and lined up on a nearby road.

The incident was reported as a crash to local authorities, but when the arrived, they found an intact airplane and two unscathed teenagers. Nichols said that the landing got a little dicey when a car on the road had to slow down to allow the plane to land. He also had power lines to contend with.

The airplane is owned by Tulsa-based Christensen aviation, which confirmed the incident but made no other comment.

(Cessna 172 pictured in file photo. Not incident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov