A single-engine plane en route to Brainard Airport made an emergency landing on the New Britain-Hartford busway in West Hartford Saturday afternoon.

A plane had to make an emergency landing on the new CTfastrak busway in West Hartford. Photo by Tim Confessore.

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford Police reported that a small plane landed on the busway off New Park Avenue in West Hartford at approximtely 3:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon. No one was injured, police said.

According to the Hartford Courant, the plane was a single-engine Cessna, and was headed to Brainard Airport when it lost power.

The pilot, Danny Hall, 48, of Torrington, radioed the tower at Brainard airport and according to a story in the Connecticut Post, was looking for a place to land when he saw what appeared to be a road without any traffic on it.

As Hall landed, the plane got hung up on the fence separating the soon-to-be-opened busway from the train tracks. The right wing was torn off the plane and the rest of the aircraft slid north along the busway until it stopped behind Oscar’s Tuxedos, which is located at 606 New Park Ave.

Hall was not injured other than experiencing some soreness in his back. According to the Connecticut Post story, this is the second time he has survived a plane crash.

A small plane made an emergency landing on the busway in West Hartford Saturday afternoon. Photo courtesy of Robert Zinkerman