Plane parachutes to safety after losing power over New York state

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., March 7 (UPI) -- A small plane parachuted to safety in New York state after losing power 2,000 feet up and the pilot said he and his daughter were "very lucky" to evade injury.

Pilot Louis Obergh said he deployed the parachute attached to his Cirrus SR22 Aircraft after the plane lost power Saturday while flying from Connecticut to Republic Airport in Farmingdale.

The plane drifted to the ground in Hauppauge, eight miles from the destination airport, and missed a building by about 10 feet.

Witness Vito S. Stabile snapped a photo of the plane shortly after it touched down and posted it to Facebook.

"I didn't even know until today that planes even had parachutes," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tom Sini told WABC-TV.

Obergh suffered a scratch to his head while his daughter was completely uninjured.

"A Band-Aid would've taken care of that," Hauppauge fire Chief Eugene Oliver told CBS New York. "How lucky is that?"

Obergh declined medical treatment for his small injury.

"We got lucky, very lucky. Never expected to ever have a problem like this," Obergh said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.