FAA investigating after small plane makes emergency landing on highway in Chatham County

A small plane made an emergency landing Thursday afternoon on U.S. Highway 1 near the intersection of Old U.S. 1 in Chatham County.

Around 4 p.m. a single-engine Lancair 360 experienced engine problems forcing the pilot to make a landing on a highway near Raleigh Executive Jetport at Sanford-Lee County Airport.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Alec Bivens, of Applegate, California, was flying the plane. The plane brushed the passenger side of one person's vehicle. Debris from the collision hit the top of another person's vehicle.

No one was hurt.

Chris Sealey, an eyewitness, reported seeing a plane flying unusually low near Pea Ridge Road with no landing gear.

"I [was] maybe three or four miles down the road, maybe from old U.S. 1," Sealey said. "This is going to sound funny the way I say it, but I'm looking in the northbound lane, like, I'm in the southbound lane and I thought, 'That's a weird looking car.'"

Sealey said the plane didn't have any smoke coming out. However, he knew something was wrong.

"I mean, he was probably like three feet off the ground when I saw him, so I don't think he had very long to go," Sealey said. "And, there was no big explosion or anything behind me, but you could tell like the traffic on both sides was kind of, you know, freaking out about it, but he had like a whole line of cars behind him."

"It's a two seat airplane-apparently it's a kit airplane which means it's manufactured in parts and owners buy the kit and they put it together," Jim Crouse, Aviation Expert said.

Building an aircraft for flight requires strict regulations.

While anyone can potentially construct an airplane, it cannot legally fly without proper inspection and certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Aviation expert Jim Crouse crediting the pilot's quick thinking skills and avoiding disaster.

"The fact he was able to put it on a busy highway and not hurt anybody," Crouse said. "That's a great job on the pilot's behalf."

The FAA is investigating.