A small plane landed on a busy street in the Parkland-Spanaway area of east Pierce County Thursday morning after a fuel system malfunction, according to the Washington State Patrol.
>>PHOTOS: Plane lands on busy Pierce County highway
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department said the plane landed on SR 7, also known as Pacific Avenue, between 135th and 143rd around 8:15 a.m.
The landing was caught on a state trooper's patrol car camera. Watch the video below.
While on patrol in east Pierce County, Trooper Thompson just happened to be in the right place at the right time and witnessed the plane make an emergency landing. He had no prior knowledge that a plane was in trouble.
After watching the plane land, Thompson made a U-turn and helped clear the road so the single-propellor KR2 aircraft could safely navigate to the nearby Jiffy Lube parking lot.
"Usually, we say it's a series of unfortunate events -- this is a series of very lucky events. There happened to be a break in traffic, he was able to hit that break safely and not come into contact with any vehicles or pedestrians," said Trooper Johnna Batiste.
Troopers say they won't be citing the pilot, but the Federal Aviation Administration will be investigating the landing.
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