Southern Airways Express makes emergency landing on Virginia highway

A small passenger plane was forced to use a Virginia highway as a landing strip Friday in a chaotic touchdown that saw the aircraft collide with a guardrail.

Southern Airways Express Flight 246 made the “hard landing” on Loudoun County Parkway at 12:50 p.m., almost immediately after taking off from nearby Washington Dulles International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Fortunately, none of the seven people — including a 15-year-old boy — on board were injured and none of the cars on the roadway were struck, the airline said.

Authorities did not reveal what caused the pilot to make an emergency landing just two minutes into its trip, but the area had been battling snowy conditions at the time.

The flight was scheduled to depart Dulles for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at 12:45 p.m., according to FlightAware data.

Dulles said on X that it received reports of the departed aircraft that landed off airport property on a nearby roadway.

The landed landed on the roadway’s westbound lanes, blocking traffic for several hours.

Incredible footage shared by the state Department of Transportation shows a tow truck slowly pulling the single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan off the highway while surrounded by the flashing lights of dozens of emergency vehicles.

Virginia State Police identified the pilot as Ahmed Awais, 27, a Florida resident. A second crew member, four adult passengers and a teenage passenger were also on board.

“We are relieved to report there were no injuries, and all passengers are safe and sound,” Southern Airways Express CEO Stan Little said in a statement.

“We are thankful to our pilots, who did exactly what they were trained to do — to put the safety of our passengers first. We are working closely with the authorities to thoroughly investigate the situation.”

The FAA will investigate the emergency landing.