NEW YORK (AP) — A small plane that made an emergency landing on a New York City highway was returning to Connecticut after touring the Statue of Liberty.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says the Piper PA-28 that landed on the northbound side of the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx Saturday afternoon had taken off from the Danbury Municipal Airport.
He said it was on its way back to Danbury, Conn., when it experienced engine problems.
He said all three people on board are being treated at a Bronx hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
He said emergency workers were removing the plane's fuel and there was no fire or gas leak.
He called the safe landing extraordinary and "a bit of a miracle," that nobody was seriously hurt or killed.
The FAA said damage to the aircraft was minor. Photos taken by bystanders showed blue and white plane largely intact, but resting on its belly by the snowy edge of the road. The plane's landing gear appeared in the photos to have collapsed.
It didn't strike any cars on the road, police said. The highway was closed and emergency personnel were on the scene.
FAA records indicated the plane was registered to an owner in South Salem.
Patricia Sapol, 29, of West Point, was driving south on the highway with her husband when they saw emergency vehicles surrounding the downed plane, about 15 minutes after the landing.
"We couldn't believe it! We thought, 'Oh my god that's a plane!' It was pretty incredible," she said. "The fact that there was no actual crash we thought was pretty surprising."
