LOOKOUT PASS – Witnesses describe a bizarre scene on Interstate 90 Tuesday afternoon where a plane crash landed onto the roadway near Lookout Pass.
Witnesses say the small plane glided down onto the interstate after the engine quit. The pilot walked away from the experimental aircraft with minor injuries.
The crash closed both lanes of eastbound traffic at Lookout Pass near the Montana-Idaho border. West End Fire Chief Richard Hughes said they where the first fire department on scene but the Montana Highway Patrol was already directing traffic.
Besides oil spills, there was not a lot of damage to the roadway. However, it was a memorable scene. “Been on the fire department for nine years, never experienced a plane on the freeway. Maybe falling off something, but not out of the sky,” Hughes said.
Lookout Pass Ski Area staff drove by right after the crash happened, and were relieved when they realized that no one seemed to be seriously hurt.
“Sensitivity wise, I thought ‘oh good, it didn’t look like anybody hit it’, but then the randomness of having the plane sitting there, and we were trying to decide which way it was going when it tried to land…and you hear of it happening every once in a while on busy freeways or highways but you never see it, so it was interesting to see,” said Brian Bressel, who witnessed the plane crash.
The pilot did sustain minor injuries. The investigation into the cause of the crash continues.
