Had Been Practicing Aerobatics For A Memorial Day Performance

The pilot of a single-seat aerobatic airplane practicing for an air show being held over the Memorial Day weekend was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway on Long Island Thursday after experiencing engine problems with the plane.

FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said that the landing was "hard, but safe." The plane, identified by the FAA as an Edge 540, lost its propeller after touching down, according to a report appearing in the New York Daily News. Photographs show a largely intact airplane, but with all three blades of its prop sheared off near the hub.

The pilot, identified as 49-year-old David Windmiller, put the plane down on Route 231 in Babylon, NY, just before 1300 EDT. He was reportedly practicing for his performance in the 2013 Bethpage Air Show planned for Jones Beach State Park.

Windmiller has reportedly been flying since he was 14 year old, and has been performing aerobatics since 1991, according to an online bio.

The incident shut down the southbound lanes of the highway for much of the afternoon, according to a spokeswoman from Suffolk County, NY.

(Edge 540 pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane.)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov