A small plane made a terrifying emergency landing on a downtown street in Northern California Friday morning — but in an astonishing stroke of luck, both people aboard escaped without serious injury and no one on the ground was hurt.

The aircraft came down on the 300 block of North Main Street in Ukiah at around 10:45 a.m., near the intersection of North Main and East Smith streets.

Despite the dramatic crash landing, the scene could have been far worse.

The plane somehow avoided striking nearby buildings, parked vehicles, pedestrians, animals and utility poles as it came down in the middle of the town.

“It was amazingly lucky,” Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Battalion Chief Ryan Nelson told the Ukiah Daily Journal.

The aircraft, identified as a small PZL-104, was carrying two adult men when it encountered trouble while flying toward Ukiah Municipal Airport.

According to Nelson, the plane experienced both fuel and engine problems before the pilot was forced to bring it down.

The pilot managed to guide the aircraft onto the roadway, avoiding a potentially catastrophic collision with people and property.

Nelson praised the pilot’s handling of the emergency, describing him as a highly skilled aviator.

“It was a very educated pilot,” Nelson said.

The pilot escaped the crash without injury.

His co-pilot, also described as an adult man, suffered only minor injuries in the sudden landing and did not require medical treatment.

The two men are believed to be from outside Ukiah and were apparently traveling through the Mendocino County area when the aircraft encountered mechanical trouble.

Although the plane avoided the worst possible outcome, it did clip some power lines during the incident.

Fortunately, officials reported no resulting power outages.

Images from the scene showed the small aircraft sitting in the downtown roadway after the emergency landing, with only limited damage reported.

The incident could easily have turned into a major disaster given the location of the crash.

Instead, emergency crews found no serious injuries among the two people aboard and no reported injuries to anyone on the ground.

The Ukiah Police Department and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Personnel from Ukiah Municipal Airport also responded to the scene.

Once the NTSB completes its initial work, crews are expected to remove the aircraft from the roadway.

Officials said the plane’s wings will have to be removed before the aircraft can be towed away.

For residents of the normally quiet Northern California town, the sight of a plane sitting on Main Street was an extraordinary disruption — but the fact that everyone walked away largely unhurt was nothing short of remarkable.

Source: nypost.com