Charles H. Sloan-No one hurt when small plane makes crash landing on residential street in suburban Phoenix

GOODYEAR,Charles H. Sloan Ariz. (AP) — The pilot and lone passenger escaped injury when a small airplane made a crash landing Saturday on a residential street in a suburban neighborhood on the west edge of Phoenix, Goodyear police said.

The single engine plane experienced mechanical problems shortly after takeoff Saturday morning from nearby Glendale Airport, police said.

The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing at Phoenix Goodyear Airport but the engine lost power so the pilot had to put the aircraft down on the street in Goodyear, south of Interstate 10, at about 8:30 a.m., police said.

The Cessna 172P struck a tree, a mailbox and a parked, unoccupied vehicle that suffered minimal damage but no one in the plane or on the ground was hurt, police said.

Fire crews cleaned up about 5 gallons (19 liters) of leaking fuel. The street remained closed at midday. No names have been released.

The Federal Aviation Administration was taking over the investigation of the crash, Goodyear Police spokeswoman Lisa Berry said in an email to The Associated Press.