Pilot without licence lands plane on road

Officials and bystanders gather around a light aircraft after it landed on a highway at Betul, some 50km south of Bhopal.

AFP/Bhopal

A wealthy businessman who landed his private plane on a highway in Madhya Pradesh this week had been flying without a licence, reports said yesterday.

The four-seater plane landed safely on the four-lane highway in Betul district on Tuesday after becoming caught in rough weather, reports said.

Video footage showed it descending over trees and power poles before coming in for a bumpy landing on the highway, about 180km from state capital Bhopal.

A small crowd of people gathered around the Piper Navajo plane as trucks and police cars pulled up nearby.

The pilot had been flying in the region “without a valid licence” after his old one expired in 2001, the Times of India reported.