The pilot of a small, single-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Lake Shore drive in Chicago early Sunday morning.
According to the Chicago Tribune 51-year-old pilot John Pedersen was unhurt when his plane made its emergency landing after he experienced engine problems while flying over downtown Chicago. Suddenly, one of the stabilizing parts came loose from the aircraft, which caused it to shake violently in the air.
"I thought the plane was going to break apart," he said, reports USA Today.
When he was unable to re-stabilize the plane, Pedersen made a mayday call to O’Hare Airport at around 5:45 a.m.
"There's no way I could have got it to Midway or O'Hare," he told the Tribune.
As Pedersen was flying over Lake Shore Drive, he decided that it would have to be a good enough landing spot. Seeing traffic on the road, he knew he would have to time his landing correctly and wait until cars were stopped at a red light to land.
“I timed the stoplights,” Pedersen told the Chicago Sun-Times. “There wasn’t a whole lot of traffic. I thought it was the safest place to put the plane down.”
He then landed his plane in the northbound lane of the street, but the LA Times reports that Pedersen said that two cars hit his plane after he landed and drove off.
Chicago firefighters arrive on-scene soon after and pushed the plane off of the road and onto a grassy area. Traffic slowed for a few hours while drivers stared at the plane and passers-by took pictures.
Pedersen, who has been flying for five years, did not seem shaken by the ordeal.
“It’s been a great day,” he told the Sun-Times.