A pilot made an emergency landing Sunday afternoon on a Fresno, CA street.
According to the Fresno Police Department, a pilot in a Cesna Skyhawk took off from Sky Park Airport and flew around Clovis with a tow banner and advertisement on the back.
The pilot was returning to Sky Park Airport at 2:20 p.m. when he lost power and had engine failure at 1,200 altitude, Lt. Steve Card said.
Card said the pilot took “swift action to avoid crashing the airplane” and landed on Emerson Avenue, near Marks Avenue, avoiding the power lines.
“He picked a spot to land a plane safely,” Card said. “He was able to navigate the aircraft in the manner in which he did and landed safely without striking the power lines, homes, vehicles or anything else.”
A neighbor told reporters she heard a noise outside and thought it was a truck and that it started accelerating.
Another explained she was at a swimming pool nearby and watched the plane fly by and heard the aircraft lose power.
Card also noted the pilot wasn’t injured but shaken up.
“He’s very fortunate,” Card stated. “No one got hurt and could have been much worse, obviously. Emergency situation, quick landing.
Card described the pilot as a “highly-rated” who has “commercial-rated pilot experience.”
The area is expected to be closed down for several hours as the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident.
I think they should have at least let him go home and change pants as he probably filled the ones he had on full. The Lord was watching over him and I am glad he was this would or could have been an awful situation. He needs a parachute like a plane I was a couple of weeks ago, that lost power and they could not find a clearing to land, but has equipped the plane with the parachute and it just coasted them down landing in a tree, with no one hurt. I knew they were working on making a parachute for small planes, but the one 2 weeks ago was the first one I saw in action.