A 1977 Piper PA-32R-300 had to make an emergency landing on a highway after the pilot lost power, surprising motorists on I-70 just east of the Greenfield exit.

At around 3 pm on Sunday, just 15 minutes after leaving Eagle Creek Airpark, pilot Babar Suleman lost power at about 7,000 feet. He went through all the checklists and did all the tests, but when that didn’t work, he called authorities to tell them he needed to land quickly.

“They asked me what my options were, and I saw I-70,” Suleman said. “I stayed slightly ahead of the cars a little bit just to give the driver an idea I was about to touch down. The guy in front of me, he kept looking at me. The moment he saw me touch down, he went and took off.”

When the Sheriff’s Department arrived, the single-engine plane had safely glided on a straight stretch of road near a highway rest stop. Eastbound traffic slowed as the plane underwent repairs by Indy Aero, a local airplane maintenance company. Police eventually opened one lane for motorists.

Deputy Scott Chapman, who responded to the scene, joked that the aircraft stopped next to a no-parking sign and that police had put an “abandoned” sticker on the plane as they do for disabled cars. But he also acknowledged the situation could have been worse.

“There was no damage, no injuries or anything. We were lucky,” Chapman said. “All of the cars just sort of gave way and let the plane do its thing.”

After the plane was fixed, and cleared by the FAA, it took off at 5:15 pm, returning to Eagle Creek Airpark.