HAMMOND, La. — A small plane made an emergency landing and hit a pickup truck in the westbound lanes of Interstate 12 Thursday afternoon, near the Pumpkin Center exit.
The pilot was in communication with air traffic control several miles from the Hammond North Shore Regional Airport, telling controllers that there was a serious mechanical issue.
“Nine Romeo whiskey, we got no oil pressure, and the engines fixin’ to seize, or something’s gonna happen here,” said the pilot to ATC.
“Nine Romeo whiskey, do you have an area that you’re gonna land in that you can let me know where you’re at?” they asked.
“Nine Romeo whiskey, we’re gonna put it down on the median on I-10,” the pilot said, confusing the highway with I-12.
“They’re putting it down in the median of I-12,” air traffic control said to first responders.
A short time later, the plane hit a Ford pickup truck on its way down. Remarkably, the driver of the truck, the pilot, and two passengers on the plane all walked away.
The crash brought traffic to a crawl for hours, with the nose of the plane stuck in the cable barriers.
The secretary of Louisiana's Department of Transport & Development, Shawn Wilson, said the cable barriers stopped the aircraft from crossing into oncoming traffic.
Records show the plane is owned by a man from Katy, Texas and took off from a small airport in Houston earlier today.
Eyewitness News found the pilot and his plane at a hangar at the Hammond airport. He told us off-camera that he is fine, but the plane is totaled.
The pilot, who is originally from Hammond, says the oil filter spun off and the engine seized. Oil is all over the outside of the plane, which has a damaged wing and nose.
All lanes of I-12 were reopened just before 6 p.m., but traffic was tangled for quite a while after.
No one was injured.
State Police were on scene at the airplane hangar talking to the pilot and other investigators.