The pilot who managed to safely crash land a plane along a busy Arlington road last week is speaking publicly for the first time to NBC 5.
The plane, a Cessna 172N, suffered an unknown mechanical error on Monday afternoon near Park Row and Timberlake Drives.
The pilot, 26-year-old Uzziel Salinas, was forced to make a split-second decision to aim for an empty lot that had a fence surrounding it.
A nearby storage unit facility recorded the plane moments before it landed.
“It's astonishing to me,” said Salinas.
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Salinas is a private pilot who’s a student at Aviator Air Flight School which owns the plane.
“A pilot never expects to go down, but we do know the risks. We do know that it can happen and we do train for that and it happened to me that day,” said Salinas.
Salinas says he and a friend went for a joy ride Monday afternoon. They snapped a selfie minutes before he says the plane's engine cut out.
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“Tried messing with the throttle to see if I can add more power but nothing happened so that's when I declared an emergency. I said, ‘Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!’” recalled Salinas.
He was given priority to land at nearby Grand Prairie Municipal Airport but says he knew he'd never make it that far.
“I was just praying for an open field, an open spot,” recalled Salinas.
His prayer was answered when he spotted an empty lot.
Video from apartments across the street shows the plane gliding into a fence surrounding a business, a strategic move Salinas says he made to avoid injuries on the ground.
“That's what I was aiming at, something where no one's at, no one's located,” said Salinas.
The plane he says was traveling at about 65 knots or 75 miles per hour when it struck the fence.
“After the hit, I looked at my passenger, my passenger looked at me and we both said to each other, ‘Are you ok?’ He was fine. I said we're okay. I grabbed his hand and I told him thank god that we're alive,” said Salinas.
Salinas says the entire landing lasted about 15 seconds. He credits his training for staying calm under pressure.
No one was injured in the crash, and damage appeared limited to the fence and the plane.
“I would say it's a miracle. It's a grace by God that we're okay and we're here standing giving the story,” said Salinas.
Despite seeing the videos and the aftermath, Salinas returned to the skies just two days after the crash, determined to reach new heights.
“We know the risks and this is my dream and I do not want to give up on it,” said Salinas, who hopes to become a commercial airline pilot.
In a statement, Aviation Air Flight School said:
“As many of you have seen, our Cessna 172R, N397ES suffered an unknown mechanical error this afternoon, forcing the pilot to perform an emergency landing just West of Grand Prairie Municipal Airport. Both the pilot and passenger walked away with no injuries. We're proud that the pilot acted quickly, relied on his training, and got the airplane down safely with minimal damage to the surrounding area and no harm to themselves. As we get more information around some of the details, we'd be happy to respond when appropriate.”
The NTSB says an investigator has traveled to the scene but that the NTSB will work with the FAA who will conduct a damage assessment and provide that information to the NTSB to determine if it warrants a full NTSB investigation.
