A trainee pilot has been hailed a hero after bringing down a light aircraft safely on a highway flyover after it developed engine trouble.
The incident took place in the Lebanese capital Beirut, with witnesses reportedly saying that the pilot had to lean out of the Cessna 172’s window to yell at motorists to get out of the way.
The BBC News website reports that the aircraft was on a training flight, with an instructor also on board. Nobody was injured, and there was reportedly no damage to the aircraft or traffic on the road.
The website quotes one witness as saying: “The pilot was great, really brave. He came down so slowly, very calmly. It could have been so much worse.”
Another said: “I saw the plane starting to come down, then I saw the pilot put his head out of the window and tell a boy on a motorbike: ‘Stop the traffic, I have to land.’”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
