A banner plane -- you know, the ones you see at the beach pulling banners with ads on them -- was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday after the pilot started to experience engine troubles.
The 18-year-old pilot Landon Lucas safely landed the plane on the Route 52 Causeway leading to Ocean City a little after 12:30pm Monday afternoon.
The pilot told police he started to experience engine troubles over Atlantic City. As the plane inched lower and lower out of the sky he released the banner into the ocean and started looking for a place to land. That's when he noticed a break in traffic on the causeway and took the opportunity to not end up in the water.
“We were sitting at a window seat at Oves on the Boardwalk about 11:11 a.m. when my husband looked up and said that plane is in trouble,” said Sharon Lyons Wardlow. “It was low to the beach, traveling slow, with the banner hanging down.”
NJ.com reported that the pilot, who received his commercial pilot's license just three months ago, landed the plane without any damage or injuries to himself or others.