North Carolina Plane Makes Miraculous Emergency Landing On Myrtle Beach Highway

If there is one road outside of the immediate Charlotte area that I feel like I spend half my life on, it's Hwy 22 in Horry County, South Carolina.  Commonly known as "The Bypass," Hwy 22 allows one to get off the hideous Hwy 501 just south of Aynor, South Carolina, and in about 20 minutes be on Hwy 17 in Myrtle Beach near the Barefoot Landing area.  And on Sunday night, Hwy 22 also served as an emergency landing strip.

Four passengers were aboard a single engine Cessna 182 that took off from Gastonia Municipal Airport just after four in the afternoon.  The aircraft, registered to Stanley Aero Club Inc. out of Belmont, North Carolina, apparently suffered major engine malfunction and was forced to make an emergency landing on The Bypass.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.  The plane suffered damage but looks to be remarkably intact.  The good news for the pilot, is that the bypass has very few bends and turns.  From the sky, to a pilot flying an impaired plane, it had to look like a miracle.  A super long, yet narrow runway right there in front of him.  Doubly lucky?  The pilot could not have picked a better time to have this happen.  Late afternoon/early evening, heading south into Myrtle Beach might be the least traffic Hwy 22 sees on a Sunday in the summer.

That being said, I can't imagine driving on the bypass and all of the sudden having my Chevy truck buzzed by a plane making a landing in front of me.  One casualty for sure would have been my shorts!

New York City has their Miracle on the Hudson.  Now, we have "The Myrtle Beach Miracle."