A small plane made an emergency landing in the middle of a Georgia highway on Feb. 9, crashing into three SUVS and leaving two motorists injured, local police told USA TODAY.
The pilot landed the single-engine plane in the middle of highway 369 in northeast Georgia after the aircraft experienced a mechanical failure, Gainesville Police Department Capt. Kevin Holbrook said. One of the plane’s fuel tanks crashed through the rear of an SUV and injured a motorist.
Holbrook said "nothing but luck" prevented the crash from becoming a "mass casualty" event.
"This is a large commercial area where a number of restaurants are just within feet of the road," the captain told USA TODAY. "We’re very, very fortunate we didn't have a mass casualty situation."
Video of the emergency landing shows the plane hit the ground in the middle of the roadway and twist at high speed into traffic. Photos shared by police show the single-engine plane stopped between a Pizza Hut and Golden Corral.
