Small plane makes emergency landing on Highway 85 in Cupertino
A small plane made an emergency landing and forced the closure of southbound lanes on busy Highway 85 in Cupertino for hours Monday morning, authorities said.
The California Highway Patrol said the plane went down just after 7 a.m. on southbound Highway 85 south of Stevens Creek Boulevard near the McClellan Road overpass.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Just after 7AM, a small plane landed on SR-85 SB SO Stevens Creek. Nobody was injured. The two left lanes are currently open and personnel is on scene working to clear the right lanes. pic.twitter.com/8iUfxZsM48
— CHP San Jose (@CHPSanJose) November 4, 2024
The plane, which was only occupied by a male pilot, was running low on fuel, according to CHP Officer Ross Lee.
No vehicles were struck by the plane, but traffic was slowed as three southbound lanes were closed, while the far left lane -- the number 1 lane -- remained open. The three right lanes remained closed as of 8:40 a.m., according to Lee.
As of 11:30 a.m., CHP said crews were making progress on the removal of the plane's wings prior to moving the aircraft off of the freeway.
The wings are coming off. Making progress toward getting the lanes open. pic.twitter.com/iKPKUs08l8
— CHP San Jose (@CHPSanJose) November 4, 2024
The plane had both wings removed and had been loaded on a flatbed truck as of about 1 p.m. The aircraft was taken away and all lanes reopened as of 1:19 p.m., according to CHP.