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Emergency landing on the Schwarzbachtalbrücke
Photo: - / dpa
A 72-year-old airplane pilot made a spectacular emergency landing with his single-engine propeller plane in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The man used a bridge on Autobahn 62 as an emergency landing runway.
Shortly after 12 noon on Saturday, he landed his plane on the Schwarzbachtal bridge, the police said.
The landing was therefore successful, but a little later the machine collided with a truck on the roadway.
The pilot suffered minor injuries and the truck driver was uninjured.
According to the police on the way from France to Lower Saxony, the engine of the aircraft had failed due to technical problems.
The pilot had to decide within a very short time where to attempt an emergency landing.
The approximately 100 meter high bridge spans the Schwarzbachtal near Pirmasens.
According to the information, the A62 remained fully closed for the afternoon in order to pump out the aircraft's fuel and to dismantle and recover the machine.
The police estimated the damage at around 60,000 euros.
Fok / dpa