Plane makes emergency landing, Indian students escape

Okeechobee: A pilot and her passenger were forced to make an emergency landing on a road this afternoon after their single-engine plane lost power at 2,000 feet in the air.
According to initial reports, Divya Manchanda, 24, was flying the Cessna 152 owned by N70FT Inc., a flight school based out of Delaware, Okeechobee Sheriff’s spokesman Ted Van Deman said.
She and her passenger, student Mayank V. Nimbalkar, 22, had flown from Orlando and were heading back, Van Deman said. Both Manchanda and Nimbalkar are from India.
At about 4 p.m., the engine gave out and Manchanda made the emergency landing at NW 168th Street, a small two-lane road that leads to the county prison. The single-engine plane landed belly-side up.
Manchanda and Nimbalkar sustained minor injuries and were taken to Okeechobee Raulerson Hospital, Van Deman said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash, Van Deman said.
14/04/08 Ana X Ceron/Palm Beach Post, United States