Plane makes emergency highway landing

NASHVILLE — Wayne Mansfield was circling downtown Nashville in a small, fixed-wing airplane Saturday afternoon when he felt the engine sputter.

The plane — which was hauling a banner encouraging “Meet Lady Antebellum text CMA to 31996” — suffered an engine failure, he said.

Mansfield began looking for his best landing option. He found it where Interstate 65 meets the Interstate 40 downtown loop, near Jefferson Street.

Mansfield, who lives near Boston, said he dropped the banner and steered the aircraft over an embankment and between two poles before he came to a stop in a grassy median where the interstates meet.

“I was still going around in circles downtown. I wasn’t trying to come here, that’s for sure,” he said later, standing beside his aircraft, cars buzzing by.

“I didn’t have a lot of choices,” he said. “I maneuvered the airplane, picked my spot and landed in it.”

The emergency landing happened about 2:15 p.m.

“So unbelievably glad everyone is ok!” Nashville-based band Lady Antebellum tweeted Saturday. The seven-time Grammy winners performed at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night as part of CMA Fest.

The fixed-wing, single-engine airplane was manufactured in 1987, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. Mansfield said a repair crew would be routed to remove the plane and make repairs.

He reported no injuries and no hard feelings about Nashville despite the aviation mishap.

“I was here last year flying around. It was wonderful,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to come back. Nashville is wonderful city. It’s full of wonderful people, welcoming people.”

“I didn’t have a lot of choices. I maneuvered the airplane, picked my spot and landed in it.”

— WAYNE MANSFIELD, PILOT