Pilot Glides To Safe Landing Following Engine Failure

Southbound drivers on I-75 near Macon, GA on Friday must had gotten an eyeful as an oncoming Beechcraft Bonanza (file photo below) glided to a landing right in front of them.

Pilot Will Stevens landed the aircraft after the engine quit for as yet unknown reasons.

Stevens, 68, said he and his wife, 63, were on their way to Lawrenceville, GA from Brooksville, FL -- just over 370 nm.

He told authorities the engine had quit 15 miles from where he'd landed.

Bibb County Sheriff's spokesman David Davis told the Associated Press the northbound plane touched down in the southbound lane. The right wing hit a guard rail spinning the plane most of the way around after the pilot swerved into the median.

Stevens said he's been flying for 40 years and this is his first in-flight incident -- thankfully one that he and his wife can walk away from.

Witnesses near where Stevens landed said they watched the plane gliding in, but none had any information that might explain the engine failure. Nearly unanimously, witnesses marveled that Stevens was able to get the aircraft down on the interstate without hitting any other vehicles.

Carolyn Middleton, a retiree who lives about a mile away, told the Associated Press, "Whoever did it, they did a great job. I mean look at all the traffic out here. How did he get lucky enough to have an empty highway? That’s what gets me. It’s just amazing."

Amazing indeed...

FMI: www.ntsb.gov