It’s the miracle on the Deegan.
Three people in a single-engine airplane walked away from an astounding emergency landing Saturday on the Major Deegan Expressway, authorities said.
A 50-year-old man and two women, ages 43 and 20, emerged from the fixed-wing Piper PA28 Cherokee that lost power just after 3:20 p.m. with no life-threatening injuries, according to authorities and a police source.
The plane had departed Danbury Airport in Connecticut for a loop around the Statue of Liberty, said Mayor de Blasio.
On the way back, the aircraft lost power, forcing pilot Michael Schwartz to make the stellar landing in the middle lane of the northbound side of the expressway, avoiding all cars, authorities said.
“It is amazing,” said Giovanna Schwartz, the relieved wife of the hero pilot. “I’m just thankful he learned how to land well,” she told The News from the couple’s South Salem, N.Y., home.
Air traffic controllers had attempted to divert the plane to LaGuardia Airport but lost contact. “When you hear a call like that, it causes a lot of puckering,” said a Port Authority source. “That means a plane has crashed or there’s a fire on the airplane. That’s the ‘Oh s—‘ call.”
The stalled aircraft passed directly over Jarel Paul’s car.
“The propeller wasn’t moving, and it went down right over us. It was gliding, he was trying to make a safe landing,” said Paul.
The plane, built in 1966, landed near the E. 233rd St. exit in the Bronx.
“It’s upright! It’s in one piece! Looks to be a solid landing!” said one incredulous responder as she arrived on the scene.
“The situation was a bit of a miracle,” de Blasio said.
Credit for the safe landing goes in large part to Department of Transportation employee Miguel Lopez, 55, who was part of a pothole crew working on the Deegan when he saw the plane making its precipitous descent. Lopez and his quick-thinking team used their trucks to stop traffic on the highway, in effect giving the plane a runway, FDNY officials said.
“The plane turned and hit some treetops,” Lopez said. “Then it landed straight down. The landing wheels buckled under the pressure of the plane.”
Once the plane landed, Lopez and his team ran to help Schwartz and his passengers, identified as Kristina Terell and Monica Castillo. “Everybody looked fine,” he said. “There was no blood or anything like that … just bumps and bruises.”
Schwartz was on his phone right after the accident, trying to arrange a tow for his plane, Lopez said. “He kept asking the person … ‘What am I going to do with the plane?'” Lopez recalled. “I told him, ‘At least you didn’t get a ticket for parking on the Major Deegan.'”
A police source said the emergency landing was not fuel-related.
Authorities said one of the women suffered a minor head injury. All three were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and later released, according to a hospital official.
With Clare Trapasso, Rocco Parascandola, Annie Karni and Natalie Musumeci