A small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a biking and walking trail in North Lauderdale late Monday afternoon, but both people aboard were uninjured, a city official said.
The Cessna Skyhawk departed from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport shortly after 4 p.m. and made the landing near a canal in the area of Southgate Boulevard and Southwest 71st Avenue about 30 minutes later, according to FlightAware.
The pilot experienced an issue with the plane’s engine or its fuel while headed for Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, said Mike Sargis, North Lauderdale City Manager. The pilot and a passenger landed on a sidewalk on a biking and walking trail along the C-14 Canal that leads to the Everglades, he said.
The two people aboard the plane were uninjured and able to get out themselves, he said.
“There were two people sitting on a bench by where the plane flew over, and they got a little bit shaken up, but there are no injuries,” he said.
Taylor Preston, one of the witnesses, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel at the scene Monday evening that they narrowly avoided being struck by the plane.
“I was just sitting on the bench, and when we looked up, we just seen the plane coming towards us,” she said. “And I only had time to just duck. But the person I was sitting on the bench with, she jumped out of the way. But if we didn’t, we would have got hit by it.”
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