Plane makes miraculous emergency landing on busy stretch of thruway near Albany: ‘Very, very unique’

A small plane made an emergency landing on a stretch of New York Thruway Friday, miraculously without injuring the pilot and two passengers or any drivers.

The Albany-bound small twin-engine Beechcraft plane landed on the busy strip of highway around Exit 23 outside Albany around noon somehow avoiding motorists before coming to rest on the shoulder of the I-87 without a scratch according to state police.

“Miraculously, the plane did not strike any vehicles. You walk around the plane looking for scratches, you pretty much can’t see anything,” New York State Police Troop T Commander Major Jay Andre told reporters Friday.

“This is very, very unique for a plane to land on the thruway successfully not striking any vehicles and nobody being injured,” Andre continued.

The plane, which FAA records show is registered to S & S Aviation, was traveling from South Carolina to Albany International Airport when it began experiencing engine trouble amid some blustery and icy conditions.

“I just don’t want to be much longer in the icy conditions I’d rather get down now,” the pilot could be heard calmly telling air traffic control at the Albany airport, in recordings obtained by The Post.

The pilot quickly realized he wasn’t going to make it the extra few miles to the airport.

“Albany approach, 661 just lost both engines. We’re making an emergency landing on the highway,” the pilot continues about a minute later.

First responders quickly rushed to the scene. State police, the FAA and the FBI all assisted, per Andre.

The plane ironically landed on the portion of the thruway directly adjoining the Thruway Authority and Troop T’s headquarters building, making for a particularly swift response.

Traffic heading northbound was restricted to one lane as first responders and aviation officials conducted an investigation. The plane was loaded onto a flatbed truck and the entire scene was cleared within a few hours.

S & S Aviation is based out of Fairfield County Airport in Winnsboro, South Carolina, and offers flying lessons according to its website.

Andre said he wasn’t sure of the pilot’s amount of flight experience, but did not believe they were a student.

It’s not the first time the stretch of the thruway between has been in the news.

A few miles south in 2015, the Albany Times Union reported, a herd of Buffalo that escaped a farm and swam across the Hudson River was trying to cross the busy highway.

The Albany County Sheriff’s office ended up shooting all 15 animals before they could wreak havoc on the thruway motorists.

The FAA says it is continuing to investigate the incident.