KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on I-40 East Saturday afternoon.
According to Knoxville Police, the plane stalled during the flight, and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. The pilot was okay and no vehicles were struck during the landing. No injuries were reported.
"The big thing we look for when stuff like that happens is not hurting yourself and not hurting other people," said Jake Todd, a Certified Flight Instructor at Knoxville Flight Training Academy. " And of course, he did that he walked away from it, and everybody else around walked away from this. I think, from that perspective, he did a good job."
TDOT was forced to close the right lane along I-40 East as well as the shoulder on the Papermill Drive exit.
According to KPD and Knoxville Fire, the plane was towed to Stokes Electrical.
The plane is a fixed-wing single-engine Zenith 750 model. According to the manufacturer's website, it can hold two people.
"I don't want to make an emergency landing if I don't have to," said Todd. "If a lesser trained pilot was at the controls, I think the situation could have been a lot worse."
This is a developing story. We will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
