SANTA BARBARA, California - A small airplane made an emergency landing into oncoming traffic on a coastal freeway Sunday and collided with three vehicles, but no one was injured, authorities said.
The Piper PA-24 Comanche with a pilot and his wife aboard was bound for Santa Barbara Airport when the pilot told air traffic controllers he had no fuel remaining and landed at about 10:30 a.m. local time on the southbound side of U.S. Highway 101, about one mile (1.6 kilometres) northeast of the airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The pilot, Kris Sean Michel, told investigators he had tried to land with the flow of traffic but could not control the plane and came down amid oncoming traffic, the California Highway Patrol said in news release.
The plane's tail hit a Chevrolet Suburban while it was still in the air, hit a Honda Accord just after landing, then was struck by a Volkswagen after it had come to rest, the CHP said.
A total of nine people were involved in the accident but none were hurt. A passenger in the Suburban asked to be taken to the hospital, but he was examined and quickly released, the CHP said.
Traffic was backed up for miles for the 90 minutes it took to clear the scene, the CHP said.
