Pilots, plane safe after I-95 emergency landing

No one was hurt when the Piper PA-28 landed near U.S. Highway 264 in Wilson.

The plane has been sitting at the Wilson Industrial Air Center since Wednesday night, when it was towed off the road.

Officials said a pilot and student pilot were aboard, but neither the Highway Patrol nor the FAA released their names.

The call came just before 7:30 p.m. on Halloween, just as the kids were loading up on candy at Marsh Swamp Free Will Baptist Church.

Youth pastor Daniel Vester, a volunteer firefighter, was hosting a trunk-or-treat party when he also got the call.

“Looking back on it, I do remember there now being a plane flying really low,” he said Thursday. “It didn’t quite sound like a plane. It sounded more like a helicopter.”

He didn't know if that meant something was wrong; he just knew the plane flew right over the church at a surprisingly low altitude, he said.

Vester couldn't answer the emergency call since he had kids to look after.

But another volunteer firefighter, Todd Barnes, did respond.

“It was definitely one of the most interesting calls I’ve ever been on,” Barnes said. "That’s not something you expect to hear every day.”

He drove up to find the single-engine Piper along the off-ramp from northbound I-95 onto U.S. 264.

The two men who were aboard, he said, were standing outside the plane.

“One of them complained about a headache, but nothing major,” Barnes said.

The plane, which is registered to First Choice Insurance Partners in Williamston, appeared unscathed.

Barnes overheard the pilot talking about his options when he knew he wouldn't make to the Wilson airport.

“He did say it was either going to be land in a field or land on 95, and luckily that stretch of 95 right there is a straight shot,” Barnes said.

Pilot plans to fly again after I-540 landing

The Highway Patrol says the plane was flying from Alabama to Wilson.

FFA investigators looked over the plane Thursday afternoon.

The pilot came, too, but declined to be interviewed.

Vester gave him major kudos.

“Oh, man, I can’t imagine doing that, coming down on 95 with all that traffic,” Vester said. “He did a good job.”