‘It was a miracle’: Small plane lands on South Carolina highway

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – People who live, work and drive along Highway 501 are used to seeing hundreds of cars on the busy road, but on Wednesday there was an unusual sight.

A small plane made an emergency landing on Highway 501. Not only did the small plane make the landing, but the pilot did it without any cars around.

The FAA said the pilot reported engine issues with the single-engine plane and made the decision to land on the busy highway.

Nancy Rivera and Ashley Porter were working at Sparks Toyota when they noticed the plane getting unusually close.

“We were sitting on the bench waiting for some nice customers to come in and all of a sudden we heard some loud noise and looked up and a plane glided onto 501 right in front of us,” the two co-workers said.

Charles Ashworth, who works at the Dunkin’ Donuts nearby, said it caught the attention of his fellow employees.

“I was in the office with my boss and everybody started running into the office saying, ‘Oh my God, there’s a plane on 501.’ So we all rushed out here and we were checking it out and it was right there in the turning lane, and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so crazy,’” Ashworth described.

He added that it’s a miracle that no cars where in the plane’s path and no one inside the plane or on the road were hurt during the landing.

“A lot of cars here and there really wouldn’t give much room for him to land, but I guess he was very observant and he had a big open spot for him to land and he did it. It was a miracle,” Ashworth said.

Once the small plane landed, it was quickly moved to the middle of the highway and a truck was brought in to tow it back to the airport.

The FAA is investigating exactly what caused the pilot to make the emergency landing.

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