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Plane hit by 3 cars after freeway landing

Authorities say a small airplane was struck by three vehicles just after it made an emergency landing on a California freeway.
Plane Crash Freeway
Firefighters try to separate a car from a plane on U.S. Highway 101, about one mile northeast of the Santa Barbara Calif. Airport on Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration says the small airplane was struck by three vehicles after making an emergency landing on the freeway.Kevin Corbett / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

Authorities say a small airplane was struck by three vehicles just after it made an emergency landing on a California freeway.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the Piper PA-24 Comanche with two people on board was bound for Santa Barbara Airport Sunday when it experienced some sort of problem and landed on the southbound side of U.S. Highway 101, about one mile (1.6 kilometers) northeast of the airport.

California Highway Patrol Officer James Richards says three cars were unable to avoid the plane and crashed into it. He says the occupants of the plane and the cars were not injured.

Richards says traffic backed up for miles (kilometers) while crews shut down the freeway to remove the plane.