Plane makes emergency landing on road

Published 6:08 pm Sunday, October 23, 2011

This plane came to an emergency landing on Northgate Commerce Parkway on Sunday afternoon when it began experiencing mechanical problems. The pilot was not injured, despite some damage to the plane.

A four-seater airplane made an emergency landing on a road in North Suffolk Sunday afternoon.

Suffolk police say the Cessna R182 landed in the 2000 block of Northgate Commerce Parkway around 3:30 p.m. when it experienced mechanical problems.

The 51-year-old pilot took off from Hampton Roads Airport on U.S. Route 58 in Chesapeake and was circling his residence, which is off Shoulders Hill Road, when he began to experience mechanical trouble, according to a news release from city spokeswoman Debbie George.

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He attempted to make it back to the airport but instead set the plane down on Northgate Commerce Parkway.

The landing gear under the nose of the aircraft did not lock into place, so the nose hit the roadway, George said. The pilot was not injured.

Virginia State Police and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified of the incident, George said.