Travelers along Interstate 81 on Saturday during the noon hour, just south of the Mahanoy City exit, got the surprise of their lives when a small aircraft had to make an emergency landing in the northbound lanes.

The crippled Piper Comanche 250 glided to a perfect landing on the center line of the lanes. The pilot, Michael Friedman of Falls Church, Virginia, and his wife, Jody, were not injured.

According to state police at Troop S, Hazleton, the plane developed engine trouble while en route from Manassas, Virginia, to Syracuse, New York. Friedman said he was 2,000 to 3,000 feel in elevation when the trouble occurred and he could not see any airports described to him, opting to put the plane down on the interstate.