18-year-old banner plane pilot makes safe emergency landing on New Jersey bridge

An 18-year-old banner plane pilot made a successful emergency landing amid traffic on a New Jersey bridge after experiencing engine trouble on Monday.

Landon Lucas was flying the airplane for Paramount Air Service when he began having engine trouble near the Atlantic City area. The young pilot released his banner into the ocean and attempted to return to the Ocean City Municipal Airport, NBC Philadelphia reported.

En route to the airport where Lucas was hoping to make a safe return, he noticed a gap in traffic on a bridge near the Jersey Shore. Running out of options, Lucas decided to land the plane on the bridge.

He touched down without injuring himself or others on the bridge and without causing damage to the plane, according to NBC Philadelphia.

"He did a perfect landing," Rose Savastano, who works at the nearby Ocean City Welcome Center and witnessed Lucas exit the plane, told The Press of Atlantic City. "He’s fine."

Traffic was still traveling in both directions on the bridge, which is a main throughway in the area, during the landing, NBC Philadelphia reported.

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Police crews responded to the scene, and officials began by removing the wings from the plane before towing the vessel away. There is an ongoing investigation of the incident.