Video captures moment pilot lands plane on Toronto-area highway after engine fails
The pilot who landed a small aircraft on Highway 407 north of Toronto says he had no option but to bring the plane down on the road after the engine failed following takeoff Wednesday.
The single-engine Piper PA-28 landed on Highway 407 eastbound lanes near Woodbine Avenue just before 11 a.m. There were two pilots on the plane and both were not injured.
The highway operator released video of the emergency landing on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. It shows the plane touching down in the left lane and coming to a stop.
The highway did not appear to be busy at the time of the emergency landing.
"We just departed Buttonville," the pilot, Ibrahim, said in an interview with police. "We climbed above 2,000 feet and we started experiencing engine failure."
He said he knew based on his speed he wouldn't make it back to the runway.
"We declared a mayday," he said. "We just let them (air traffic control) know we were heading for the highway."
"We had no options. It was either this or a building."
The airplane did not sustain any damage during the landing and no one was injured on the ground.
According to police, the plane was on its first flight after going through a 100-hour inspection.
Eastbound lanes on Highway 407 were closed after the plane landed but are starting to reopen, police said.
A crane was brought to the location to lift the plane off the highway and onto a tow truck.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim said he credits his pilot training for helping him land the plane safely.
"Just stick to your flight training and follow everything. You may think it won't happen to you, I never thought it would happen to me, but it did."
According to public aviation records, the plane is registered to the Caribbean Flying Club in Toronto.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'