An apparently confused pilot of a Piper Arrow recently landed on State Route 64 instead of at Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park Airport, according to a report by the Arizona Republic.
“The plane did not crash, [it] simply landed on the highway,” the paper quoted an Arizona Department of Public Safety official as saying. “We now know this was not an emergency landing, simply a confused pilot who thought the highway was part of the airport.”
According to one source familiar with the history of the airport, it is not the first time a pilot has landed on the highway by mistake.
The incident happened on Sunday at around 2:40 p.m., causing the road to be shut down in both directions until Department of Public Safety officials towed the airplane to the airport. There were no injuries or damage to the Piper.
Grand Canyon Airport lies next to Route 64 inside the Grand Canyon National Park about 50 miles north of Flagstaff.
