Small plane lands safely on busy Colo. street

[December 20, 2011]  LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) -- The pilot of a single-engine plane managed to safely land on a major street in the northern Colorado city of Longmont after having engine problems.

John Pritchard of Lafayette landed the Piper Cherokee Archer II on Hover Street near a shopping mall Sunday evening. He avoided hitting streetlights and trees along the road. The landing caused no accidents.

Longmont airport manager Tim Barth and police told the Longmont Times-Call (http://bit.ly/rw9bm9) that Pritchard and his teenage daughter were flying back to Boulder from Plattsmouth, Neb., when the plane developed engine trouble. They said Pritchard got permission to land at Longmont's airport instead but then realized he couldn't make it.

Will Elwood said he saw the plane fly by silently from a Target parking lot. Its engine was off. Elwood and his father helped push the plane into another parking lot.

[Associated Press]

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