Small Plane Makes Safe Landing on Highway

LITCHFIELD  (AP) - Three friends from Canada are OK after their single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a central Minnesota highway.

Meeker County authorities got a 911 call Tuesday that a plane had landed on Highway 24 near Litchfield. Deputies found a Cessna 172 parked on a field approach.

Pilot Donald Rennie of Alberta, Canada, said he and his two passengers had left Rochester on the way to Alexandria when the engine started to lose power.

Rennie didn't think he'd make it to the Litchfield airport, so he decided to land on the highway. Once on the ground, the three discovered water in the plane's fuel and were able to drain it.

The plane was cleared to take off from the road. No one was hurt.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved)