Pilot speaks out after small plane makes emergency landing on busy street
A small plane made a crash landing on a busy street in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend, and officials say it's a miracle that no one was seriously hurt.
The pilot involved in the harrowing incident, retired airline captain Mike Tragarz, told ABC News Phoenix affiliate KNXV the plane began having engine trouble shortly after taking off from a nearby private airport Sunday afternoon with two passengers onboard.
"Experience does pay off. I have to say that," Tragarz, who has more than four decades of flying experience, told KNXV.
Less than 20 minutes into the flight, Tragarz said the situation escalated quickly.
"I was just dialing in Sky Harbor frequency to declare the emergency, and that's when we started losing power," he said.
As the altitude dropped, Tragarz said he made a split-second decision.
"I just stopped everything and said to these guys, 'We're going to land, we're going down. I've got to find a place to land,'" he recalled.
"I looked down there and saw 7th Street, and it was clear," he said of the open roadway. "And I said, 'Well, that's where we're going."
Surveillance video captured the dramatic moments that followed: A car is seen driving through the frame, followed by the plane skidding down the street in the opposite direction seconds later, crashing into a water main and coming to a stop.
The plane involved was a rare Republic RC‑3 Seabee, an amphibious aircraft built in the 1940s that can land on both water and runways.
Despite the violent landing, Tragarz and both passengers were able to exit the aircraft on their own.
One passenger credited the pilot's quick thinking.
"He saved us. He made [the] right decision at [the] right time. Everything was just perfect," the passenger told KNXV.
Tragarz downplayed the damage and told KNXV, "The only thing we have damaged here are the seats."
Reflecting on the outcome, he added, "Every landing you can walk away from is a good one. And yeah, it wasn't smooth, it wasn't pretty, but yeah, we're very fortunate."
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the cause of the crash.
