A small aircraft lost engine power while flying over Long Island Saturday afternoon, but the pilot deployed the plane's parachute enabling it to safely drop to the ground near an industrial building.
The pilot, Louis Obergh, and his daughter walked away from the Cirrus SR22 aircraft, which crash-landed near the front of the Pall Corporation building in a small industrial park in Hauppauge. The plane came down on its wheels and its parachute draped over the roof of the single-story building.
"We got very lucky," Obergh said at the scene.
Hauppauge Fire Chief Eugene Oliver called the crash-landing "picture perfect."
Obergh had a small scratch on his head from the accident. His daughter was not injured.
The aircraft reported engine trouble at about 3 p.m. as it approached a runway at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The aircraft came down about eight miles from the airport.
Obergh said he and his daughter were returning home from a trip to the University of Rhode Island.
