By Jeff Reynolds, CNN • Updated 18th April 2016
Two people on board an airplane described as “an unusual sight” landed in York Region, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, according to police.
York Regional Police said their air support unit received a call reporting a plane at 8:13 a.m. Friday landing on the northbound lanes of 403 Highway.
Part of the call was a detail report, though the pilot and passenger say they did not know why they were there.
“It is being reported that a light aircraft touched down on the southbound side of the 403 Highway (in the York Region),” police said in a statement. “In hindsight, this is something you don’t see very often.”
The plane, a small propeller-driven Cessna 172, was flying to Bathurst, New Brunswick, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, said police. Both occupants told police they had “issues with the engine.”
Two police officers reached the plane and saw the pilot had removed the landing gear and the pilot was actually about to climb, according to police.
Both occupants could not be removed from the plane, which remained grounded in the traffic jam.
Osprey helicoptor seen hovering over York Region looking for two people who abandoned a plane by airport.pic.twitter.com/R3oD1apdiX — York Regional Police (@YRP) April 13, 2016
The plane took off from St. John’s, Newfoundland, at 5:30 a.m.
Calls to the owner of the plane went unanswered.
