January 4, 2014.

Small Plane in Distress Lands on Congested NYC Highway

"A rat. I saw him stick his beastly nose out of the wainscoting. There's a hole down there. I gave him a good fright, anyway."

A small passenger plane returning to Connecticut from a sightseeing trip to the Statue of Liberty on Saturday lost power and was forced to land on a congested New York City highway, narrowly missing cars, authorities said.

"Rats!" murmured Winston. "In this room!"

The male pilot and two women passengers escaped serious injury in the landing and no vehicles were struck by the plane, which landed on the Major Deegan Expressway, one of the city's busiest highways.

"They're all over the place," said Julia indifferently as she lay down again. "We've even got them in the kitchen at the hostel. Some parts of London are swarming with them. Did you know they attack children? Yes, they do. In some of these streets a woman daren't leave a baby alone for two minutes. It's the great huge brown ones that do it. And the nasty thing is that the brutes always----"

The Piper PA-28 was on its way to Danbury, Conn., heading north from the Statue of Liberty when it experienced engine trouble, said a spokesman for the Fire Department of New York. The pilot planned to land at La Guardia Airport in Queens but realized he wouldn't be able to reach the runway.