Plane makes emergency landing on interstate near Joliet

NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) - A stalled engine forced the pilot of a small aircraft to make an emergency landing Thursday on Interstate 355 near Interstate 80 south of Chicago, according to authorities.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Brian McKinney said the pilot and three passengers were aboard the single-engine Beechcraft B24R when it landed on the southbound lanes of I-355 near New Lenox.

The 39-year-old pilot, a 15-year-old girl and two women, 20 and 21, were taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox for evaluation of minor neck pain, state police said. The names of the four weren't immediately released.

The aircraft is owned by Prestige Worldwide Aviation, which flies out of Lewis University Airport in Romeoville, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. The owner declined to comment about the incident.

Details about the plane's ultimate destination or how long it had been in flight were not immediately known.

'œInvestigators will be gathering that information,'ť said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.

Although no investigators will be sent to the scene, the National Transportation Safety Board said it will conduct an investigation of the incident.