Small Plane Lands on I-80; No Injuries Reported
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP/CBSNewYork) - A small plane owned by the U.S. Justice Department was forced to make an emergency landing on Interstate 80 near Hackensack.
New Jersey State Police say the single-engine plane was headed for Teterboro Airport but was forced to land on the highway due to a mechanical problem.
LINKS: CBSNewYork.com Traffic Page | LISTEN LIVE: WCBS 880
PHOTOS: Pics of the Plane on I-80
The plane, with two aboard, landed in the eastbound express lanes.
State police say part of the roadway has been closed off while investigators check the plane and that all lanes could be shut down when the plane is to be removed.
WCBS 880 traffic reporter Lori Jordan reports traffic is moving very slowly in both directions.
WCBS 880 Reporter Levon Putney reported the plane has been moved to a flatbed truck and is being cleared from the scene.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office released a statement saying the plane "made a controlled landing on Route 80 in Hackensack, New Jersey due to a fuel line malfunction that prevented it from returning to Teterboro Airport. No one was injured in the incident and the craft will be shortly towed from the site by flatbed. The craft was operated by a certified flight instructor and flight safety officer who is a retired commercial airline pilot and currently assists the BCPO in its homeland security and safety efforts in conjunction with the US Department of Justice, which owns the plane. The DOJ program with the BCPO has been operating successfully for two years."
No injuries are being reported.
