Plane makes emergency landing on New York highway

NEW YORK — A small plane made an emergency landing on a highway in the Bronx borough of New York on Saturday, injuring the pilot and two passengers, as the area battled a brutal cold snap.

The single-engine propeller plane landed around 3:20 pm (2020 GMT) in the Major Deegan Expressway's northbound lane near 233rd Street, the New York City Fire Department said on its Twitter feed.

The situation was "under control," it added, noting that no cars were affected and that there was no fire or fuel spilled. Firefighters removed the plane's fuel before moving it to avoid the risk of a blaze.

The injured, two men and one woman, left the plane and were taken to St Barnabas Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities said.

One had a serious injury and the other two suffered minor injuries. One of the injured was the pilot, though authorities would not confirm his or her identity.

"The plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to some sort of engine trouble," FDNY spokesman Khalid Baylor told AFP.

"The plane then made a landing onto the highway and did not damage any vehicles, did not cause any injuries to any people on the ground. The FDNY safely offloaded the jet fuel and the plane was removed from the highway."

He said Department of Transportation workers who happened to be on the scene doing some highway repair at the time noticed the plane coming in on landing and helped stop traffic with their rig.

Drivers experienced some major delays on the highway, which has three lanes on both sides.

A spokeswoman from New York's Office of Emergency Management said the plane had departed from Danbury, Connecticut for a tour around the Statue of Liberty.

The plane was a 1966 Piper PA-28-180, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. — Agence France-Presse