Pilot speaks out after small plane crash-lands onto Phoenix road

Pilot recalls crash landing on 7th street in Phoenix

The pilot who managed to land a small plane on a busy street in Phoenix is speaking out. The retired American Airlines pilot, and two fellow pilots on board the aircraft, walked away with only minor injuries. FOX 10's Nicole Krasean learns more about the moment he decided to make the emergency landing in the middle of the road. 

PHOENIX - The pilot of the small plane that crash-landed on a Phoenix roadway over the weekend is speaking out.

What we know:

Michael Tragarz and the two fellow pilots he was flying with managed to walk away without injuries. 

"The aviation gods were with us," Tragarz said. 

The pilot said he was taking his fellow pilots on a Valley tour, meant to last between 20 to 30 minutes. Instead, they ended up crashing into the roadway along 7th Street in Midtown Phoenix after just 10 minutes in the air.

What He's Saying:

Tragarz, who is a retired American Airlines pilot, described the moments when he managed to safely land one of his Republic Seabee aircraft as a decision he didn't second guess.

"I didn't second-guess anything. I made the decision, I stuck to that plan and that plan was at the end of the day, hindsight, the plan was the correct one," Tragarz said. "You relive it over and over again, but you know it was so fast and there were very few options."

Tragarz said he was roughly 10 minutes into the flight when he started receiving indications of high RPM and lost control of the propeller.

"I had made a decision I was going to divert to Sky Harbor, so I was beginning a southbound turn to the right to go to Sky Harbor and I had just reached down to dial the frequency of Sky Harbor and declare the emergency when we lost power," Tragarz said.

Pilot says 'aviation gods were with us' during emergency plane landing

The man who landed a small plane on a Phoenix roadway described spotting the landing spot as if 'the gods opened up the Red Sea." FOX 10's Nicole Krasean learns what happened just moments before the aircraft touched down on 7th Street. 

Dig deeper:

He focused in on where to land the plane, with 7th Street right in his line of sight.

"Which you know, most of the time that place is just packed with traffic and there was nobody there," Tragarz said. "it looked like a runway. I swear it was like the gods opened up the Red Sea."

Obstacles in the way included buildings, power lines and a reverse lane closure sign. Tragarz said he ducked within roughly 50 feet of a sign, making what he called a solid landing.

Tragarz told FOX 10 the plane slid a bit upon landing, but quickly came to a stop. He said the damage to the plane was much less than what could have been, as it only hit the curb and a water valve. 

Big picture view:

He attributed his cool composure to his decades of training and experience, simply putting that to use.

"I don't see it as being this heroic thing, it was just the job. After all these years, it was what you have to do to do it, and I've actually reached out to a couple of the instructors, my previous instructors and let them know I give them a lot of kudos," Tragarz said. "We are all skilled pilots and you like to think you're the one, but I gotta think there was some intervention there," he said. 

The backstory:

Just after 2:30 p.m. on April 12, the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing near 7th Street and Missouri Ave. The road was closed, as tow truck drivers spent hours through the night trying to haul the plane off.

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Witnesses describe 'miracle' landing of small plane on Phoenix roadway

A Republic Seabee aircraft made a successful emergency landing on 7th Street in Midtown Phoenix between Missouri and Colter avenues.

What's next:

The FAA is investigating the cause of the crash. 

Map of where the plane landed.