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3 survive small plane crash along 7th Street in Phoenix
Reactions are pouring in after a small plane made an emergency landing on a busy street in Phoenix. Miraculously, all three people on board survived the crash, only suffering minor injuries. FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez learns what bystanders are saying after witnessing the plane fall from the sky.
PHOENIX - Witnesses are recalling the moment a small plane made an emergency landing in Midtown Phoenix over the weekend, where all three passengers on board walked away with only minor injuries.
The backstory:
Just after 2:30 p.m. on April 12, the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing near 7th Street and Missouri Ave. All three people onboard walked away with minor injuries.
3 injured after small plane crashes onto Phoenix road
Multiple people are injured after a small plane crashed onto a road near 7th Street near Missouri Avenue in Phoenix just after 2:37 p.m. on Sunday.
The busy road along 7th Street between Missouri and Colter was closed for hours after the plane landed. Tow truck drivers spent hours overnight trying to somehow haul a plane off city streets.
Timeline:
"I noticed it was a little bit low. It was turning. Then it was coming down," one witness said. Another bystander added, "I’m looking to the right— ‘Whoa is that like a plane fixing to crash?’"
The small Republic Seabee was en route from Hangar Haciendas Airport in Laveen when it descended on Phoenix Sunday afternoon. The sight stunned shoppers and restaurant patrons, who not only watched mystified as the plane suddenly landed on 7th Street, but believed they had seen a miracle as all three passengers inside hopped out of the fully intact hull with ease.
"We’re like, ‘Yo—he landed perfectly.’ We’ve never seen no stuff like this," a witness said.
The pilot, believed to be the man in the salmon-colored shirt, appeared shocked but buoyant. He and two others walked away with only minor injuries, the plane barely missing people, cars, buildings and a cement power pole.
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'A miracle': 3 survive plane crash on busy Phoenix street
Multiple people are injured after a small plane crash-landed on a Phoenix road near 7th Street and Missouri. All three on board suffered minor injuries, but it remains unclear what caused the plane to make an emergency landing. FOX 10's Megan Spector learns more about why the fire captain is calling this crash a miracle.
"The part that I say is a miracle is knowing how busy 7th Street is and how busy this area is," said Capt. DJ Lee of the Phoenix Fire Department. "For him to not hit anything else to me that’s a miracle in itself."
The pilot and passengers refused to be taken to the hospital.
Dig deeper:
Police were stuck with the task of removing the plane from the street. Tow truck drivers studied the aircraft, attempting to hitch it on the back of their trailers, and failing, for hours. Soon it was nightfall with workers finally resorting to dismantling the plane.
The pilot has so far declined to share with the media what went wrong in the air and what went right when forced into an emergency landing.
"Something just gave me like the chills in my body. I’m like—I just got to hug them. So I just hugged him. Then I was like, You good?' He’s like, ‘I’m great.’ And then the other guy, they were just laughing about it. Thank God they made it out alive," a witness said.
What's next:
The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause.
Map of where the plane made the landing.
The Source: Phoenix Police and previous FOX 10 reports