A small airplane made an emergency landing on Highway 59 north of Barling around 10:10 Monday morning, Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown said.
The plane took off in Clinton and was headed toward the Fort Smith Airport.
“I didn’t think I could make the field so I chose to land on this highway," said pilot Eric Archer, 74, of Bedford, Texas. Archer was the only person on board the plane.
When asked what it was like to land his plane on the highway, Archer said, "It gets your heart pumping."
The plane began to experience engine trouble just after 10 a.m., Archer said. He has been flying airplanes for years and is not sure what caused the trouble.
No one was injured in the landing and there was no damage to the plane or any property.
“Fortunately everything went very smoothly in my favor,” said Archer.
Arkansas State Police are working the scene as an 'incident,' not as a crash.
Police later temporarily shut down the highway to allow Archer to use it as a runway for take off.
