Engine issues prompt plane landing on Highway 501; 2 people on board
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — UPDATE: Plane that made emergency landing on Hwy 501 operated by flight school
A plane landed Wednesday on Highway 501 in the Carolina Forest area due to engine failure, according to audio obtained from LiveATC.net.
ABC15 listened to the live Air Traffic Control net audio between the tower and the pilot before the plane landed. The audio revealed the pilot said he had engine failure and he was going to land on the highway.
Editor's Note: The audio below has been edited for length and clarity purposes.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed two people were on board the aircraft.
Their full statement read:
A single-engine Diamond DA40 landed on Highway 501 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, around 12:55 p.m. local time on Wednesday, May 29, after the pilot reported engine issues. Two people were on board. The FAA will investigate.The plane landing brought a large first responder presence near Carolina Forest Boulevard causing traffic to backlog in both directions on Highway 501.
Flight Aware data shows the plane, a single-engine Diamond Star, operated by LIFT Training Academy, took off at 10:45 a.m. from Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) and landed on Highway 501 at 12:10 p.m.
Drone videos from ABC15 viewer Mike Roberts show the plane on the highway surrounded by emergency officials. No injuries were reported.
Drivers in the area said as the plane was coming down, it was very quiet, but they noticed how low it was and anticipated it coming down, which gave the plane space to land.
Dylan Wadzinski is one of the drivers who saw the plane as it landed.
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He said, "It looked like it was coming in very kind of sideways like you could tell it was definitely not supposed to land on 501, but right as I was passing, the wheels touched down."
I pulled over into the median, and I noticed the plane stopped pretty quickly as soon as it hit the ground, and then he immediately, it looked like a gentleman, he immediately hopped out and looked like he was trying to help assist his plane off the side of 501, well; in the middle of 501 I should say.ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7zZqroqeeYsSwvsudZqmkkaOybrjAp5usZZietKnDwLJkbmhhYrCivs6loKeZXZu8s7HSrWScp56srrp5x6ipq7FdmLy2utOyZJ%2Bhopp6s7HSnKyeZaCkuaqvxGaqqK2knXqkrdGoo6KmkWKvs7HApKCnn12jsri%2F