Small plane crash-lands on street near Fresno's Sierra Sky Park

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A small plane crash-landed on a major thoroughfare in Fresno, shutting down a portion of the road for nearly four hours on Sunday.

The crash happened around 10:15 a.m. on Herndon near Brawley in Northwest Fresno, just short of the runway at the Sierra Sky Park.

Firefighters say the pilot of the single-engine Navion aircraft and his two passengers were heading back from Madera after fueling up, when the plane suddenly lost power as it approached the runway, clipping a fence on its way down and crossing both directions of traffic on Herndon Avenue before coming to a rest on the north side of the street.

"The timing of this incident I think was perfect; I think the good Lord was watching over Fresno in regards to this," said Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Rich Cabral.

Witnesses say it was a miracle no one was hurt.

"If he hadn't hit that fence, he might have made the runway or he might have caught us," said Mike Shaban.

Shaban and his grandson Nico Bergmann were driving home from school shopping at Walmart when they noticed the plane -- just 30 yards away -- was flying low and slow to the ground.

"It was in trouble. The nose was going this way, and this way, and up and down. It was losing power, and the pilot was trying to control it and he couldn't," said Shaban.

That's when they say they saw the wheels catch the fence and break off from the aircraft.

"I saw the plane landing, or trying to land, and it was wobbling and all that, and then suddenly the landing gear came out so I thought it was going to land, but it crashed," said Bergmann.

The wings, nose and undercarriage of the plane were damaged, and the wheels were laying in the eastbound lanes, but the pilot -- John Flaugher -- and his two daughters from Clovis walked away unharmed -- surprising everyone who either witnessed the crash or saw the wreckage.

"It is scary. We're just thankful he's OK and nobody was hurt," said Lana Huther.

The road was reopened after crews cleared the plane and its leaking aviation fuel from the roadway.

The investigation will now be turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.