911 calls from Lake Shore Drive plane landing released

ByCate Cauguiran WLS logo
Friday, August 10, 2018
911 calls from Lake Shore Drive plane landing released
911 calls from Lake Shore Drive plane landing releasedThe 911 calls made by shocked drivers as they watched a small plane land on Lake Shore Drive at the end of July have just been released.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The 911 calls made by shocked drivers as they watched a small plane land on Lake Shore Drive at the end of July have just been released.

The single-engine plane's pilot made a remarkable landing in the 3800-block of the southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive on a busy Friday afternoon. In the calls, you can hear the shock and initial disbelief from both callers and dispatchers.

Caller: We just had a plane go down along the lake shore

Dispatch: Like went down on Lake Shore? Where?

Caller: Yeah, uh it was probably just south of Navy Pier

LISTEN: Pilot's mayday call before landing on Lake Shore Drive

Listen to the mayday call made by the pilot of a small plane that landed on Lake Shore Drive.

The pilot told Midway's air traffic control he was having engine issues and losing power quickly. So, air traffic controllers told him to set the plane down on Lake Shore Drive

Dispatch: Did he land or is he landing?

Caller: Yeah, he said he's trying to put it down on Lake Shore Drive just about three miles south of the Stevenson and Lake Shore Drive

When Chicago police contacted the fire department, at first there was a bit of disbelief.

CFD: No way. The phones would have been ringing off -- Well, actually we just got it

CPD: We're in the red so people are calling about it.

Several calls were made by drivers witnessing the event, concerned over why it was there in the first place.

Dispatch: Fire Department. How may I help you?

Caller: There was a plane it just crashed by 31st by the lakefront. Overpass, lakefront. A yellow plane.

Dispatch: A plane?

Caller: Yeah, a plane. An airplane.

Authorities said the plane flew under the 35th street footbridge as it landed in the southbound lanes.

Caller: It was a two-seater, single engine plane. It looks like it was coming down for a possible emergency landing.

The plane was traveling to Cleveland from Kenosha. There were no injuries, no damage and no roadside accidents. The only problem that day was the traffic.

WATCH: Plane moved off Lake Shore Drive into the grass

Watch first responders manually move the plane, using paramedic boards, to the grass on the side of Lake Shore Drive.
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