No Injuries After Pilot Nails 'Textbook Emergency Landing' On Motorway

A pilot in the US has nailed a 'textbook emergency landing' on a motorway. Watch footage of the landing here:

The Bellanca Viking plane hit a car after landing on the motorway in Arden Hills, Minnesota, on Wednesday night, and nobody was injured.

However, the situation could have been a hell of a lot worse if the plane wasn't piloted by Craig Gifford - an award-winning member of the US aerobatics flying team.

The 52-year-old competitive aerobatic pilot represented the US in international competition in 2017 and 2019 on the Unlimited Aerobatic Team, winning the bronze medal at the world championships in South Africa in 2017.

Experimental Aircraft Association spokesman Dick Knapinski said pilots are trained in handling aircraft in emergency situations, hence Craig was able to pull off the 'textbook emergency landing'.

According to the Associated Press, he said: "Pilots are trained to deal with emergency engine problems and things like that if you have to make an emergency landing, and so the combination of that training and certainly (Craig's) aerobatic training really paid off in this situation."

Minnesota Department of Transportation

Craig was also praised by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Sharing the footage on Facebook, it said: "In case you missed it: A plane landed on 35W last night. (Yes, really!)

"While this isn't *quite* what we mean by a 'multimodal transportation system', we're glad no one was injured and are impressed by the pilot's effort to zipper merge from above!"

The incident is now being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation and Safety Board.

In the summer, a couple in the UK had to make an emergency landing after their plane's flight controls jammed.

Steve Le Van

Steve Le Van and his wife were on their way back from Charlton Park, in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, when the baggage hatch on their Mooney M20K swung open.

The hatch then 'caught the leading edge of the horizontal stabiliser', affecting the plane's controls.

Fortunately, Mr Le Van was able to steer the aircraft down to a safe landing in an empty field.

A video filmed from the cockpit was shared on Mr Le Van's YouTube channel, showing the entire terrifying incident unfold.

Following the emergency landing, Mr Le Van explained what had gone wrong, saying he had no other option but to 'declare a Mayday'.

You can watch footage from the landing here.

Topics: Plane, US News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey