Crime & Safety
Bergen County Resident Forced to Land Plane on Passaic County Highway
No vehicles were hit during the emergency landing and the pilot was the only passenger in the single-engine plan.
A small plane was forced to land among cars on a busy highway in Passaic County Thursday after having mechanical issues.
Fifty-one-year-old Christopher Okechukwu, a doctor from Paramus who has 15 years of flying experience, safely landed the 1976 Cessna C150 plane on Route 23 in West Milford around 1 p.m. after losing power, according to WABC.
NorthJersey.com reports Okechuku “ducked power wires, buzzed a northbound truck, matched his speed to traffic further away, and placed his tires on an open stretch of roadway” after hearing a “sputtering noise” coming from the plane.
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“I just looked for the closest highway,“ Christopher told WABC. “I lost power about 10 miles out, so I put it on a glide, and I glided about 10 miles.”
No vehicles were hit during the emergency landing and Okechukwu was the only passenger in the single-engine plane, according to NBC-4.
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The pilot, although shaken, said he is “very thankful to be alive.”
The incident is under investigtion, according to WABC.
Video from Associated Press.
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