5 people hurt when small plane lands on road, 2 SUVs struck

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Firefighters say five people were hurt when a small plane made an emergency landing on a road in Florida and struck two SUVs.

St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Steve Lawrence tells the Tampa Bay Times it’s unclear what forced the twin-engine Cessna 402B to land Wednesday afternoon. Lawrence believes the pilot realized an issue and “decided to land on the roadway rather than into someone’s house.”

Of the five who were injured, three were brought to hospitals. The pilot and a passenger were among those hospitalized, the others had been inside the vehicles.

The plane was headed for Albert Whitted Airport and where it stopped was almost perfectly in-line with, and roughly 1.5 miles (2 kilometres) short, of Runway 7.

The Federal Aviation Administration was expected to visit the scene.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.