(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A small plane landing on I-355 near Bolingbrook created quite a sensation in January, and now the National Transportation Safety Board has completed its investigation.
911 operators fielded calls about a single-engine plane that landed on I-355.
"An airplane just landed on the highway…Now it's pulled over on the shoulder. Oh my God, I was going to have a heart attack," one woman told an operator.
It was on its way to Brookeridge Airpark in Downers Grove, and the NTSB said a 73-year-old Denver man was the pilot, a former pilot for now-defunct Continental Airlines and for FedEx.
In his narrative to the NTSB, the pilot wrote that he "quickly attempted to restart the engine by switching fuel tanks but in the rush may have forgotten to engage the boost pump."
The pilot wrote that he "maneuvered to avoid several light poles and made a hard landing near the freeway on-ramp.
"I don't know how," the pilot told the NTSB, "but I managed to avoid missing other vehicles and light poles. After reflecting on the flight," he wrote, "I believe the left fuel tank may have inadvertently been run dry."
The plane had minor damage. The pilot was uninjured.
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