Plane lands on Alaska highway just north of Anchorage; no injuries

Plane lands on highway near Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A pilot landed his small airplane on a highway north of Anchorage, picking a spot with little traffic on the three inbound lanes.

Pilot Bill Toney wasn’t injured in the emergency landing on the Glenn Highway late Friday afternoon.

Anchorage Police Lt. Dave Parker says Toney was the only person on board.

And Parker says he did a fine job of landing it on the freeway, avoiding traffic.

Parker said mechanical failure was likely to blame for the emergency landing, after something threw rods through the top of the engine.

Police have hooked the Cessna 180 to a pickup truck and were to tow it to Toney’s hangar at the airport in nearby Birchwood.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A small airplane has landed on a busy highway leading into Anchorage.

Anchorage Police Lt. Dave Parker says a Cessna 180 landed near an exit on the Glenn Highway Friday afternoon.

There were no injuries, and he says rush hour traffic north of Anchorage is being slowed by “rubberneckers.”

There were no other immediate details of the landing.