Pilot, Famous Passenger Unhurt, Airplane Damaged

An Emivest Syberjet SJ-30 aircraft with actor Morgan Freeman on board made an emergency landing at an airport in Mississippi Saturday night. The good news is, neither Freeman or his pilot were injured in the incident. The plane, however, did not fare so well.

ABC News reports that Freeman (pictured) said in a statement sent by his publicist that he was traveling to Texas from Mississippi aboard his aircraft to shoot a segment of his series "The Story of God."

"Sometimes things don't go as planned and a tire blew on takeoff, which caused other problems," the statement said. "But thanks to my excellent pilot Jimmy Hobson we landed safely without a scratch."

While Freeman said the plane had been damaged, he did not elaborate on the extent of that damage.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in a statement that Hobson's flight plan listed the destination as Sugar Land, TX, but he diverted to Tunica Municipal Airport in Mississippi where it landed at 6:15 local time. She confirmed that the main landing gear had collapsed and the plane veered off the runway after landing.

Freeman has owned the SJ-30 since 2009, but was reportedly not piloting the airplane when the incident occurred.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov