Act Daily News
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A small aircraft made an emergency touchdown on Interstate 40 in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday, managing to not strike any automobiles within the course of, in line with the Knoxville Police Department.
The pilot was not harmed and there have been no vital accidents, mentioned Mark Nagi, group relations officer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. There had been no different passengers onboard.
Authorities credited each the pilot and luck for stopping what might have been a tragic accident.
“He was trying to make it onto the ramp where there was less traffic obviously, but luckily nobody was involved with him and he was able to land safely enough to get him out and keep everybody else safe,” mentioned Knoxville Police Sgt. Thomas Clinton.
Traffic within the space was impacted for a number of hours and drivers had been requested to hunt alternate routes if potential.
The aircraft was ultimately loaded onto a wrecker and faraway from the interstate, police mentioned. All eastbound lanes of I-40 have been reopened.
The pilot, Frank Grubbs, informed Act Daily News affiliate WVLT the engine failed mid-flight and different choices for touchdown had been unavailable.
“I’m just sorry I backed traffic up so far. I inconvenienced a lot of people, so I hate that,” Grubbs informed WVLT.