An 81-year-old pilot had a miraculous escape after his single-engine plane crash landed in the parking lot of a strip mall.
Hans Kopper had taken his 1973 Cessna out for a spin with a passenger when the plane developed engine trouble.
The small aircraft clipped a two-storey garage before ending up in the lot in Williamsburg, Virginia where only a few other vehicles were parked.
Out of control: Pilot Hans Kopper, 81, and his unnamed passenger escaped without injury when his plane came down in Williamsburg, Virginia
It landed upright but the tail was snapped at almost a right angle.
Neither Mr Kopper, who is from the town, nor his passenger, who has not been named, were hurt in the accident.
Trooper J. Lister, a senior officer with the local police, told the Virginia Gazette that Mr Kopper was on a 'pleasure flight'.
The plane had taken off from Williamsburg Jamestown Airport at 10am before the crash happened around an hour later on Monday.
Fire Department spokesman Eric Stone added that the 1973 Cessna plane was completely destroyed.
Battling for control: Hans Kopper is forced to bring his plane down in the parking lot of a strip mall in Virginia
Another light aircraft crashed in Berkley, Massachusetts yesterday after the single-engine plane clipped a tree and landed upside down in a field.
The pilot, whose identity is unconfirmed, suffered leg injuries and was airlifted to hospital but remained conscious after the accident, telling police his vision had been impaired by the sun.
Witnesses said the pilot was flying alone at around 5pm when he landed upside down, crushing the propeller but leaving the cockpit otherwise intact.
Terror: The front of the plane is bashed out of shape by the impact of the accident in Virginia
Debris: Glass and parts of the plane litter the parking lot after it crash landed following engine failure
Investigating: Trooper J. Lister said that the pilot and his passenger had been on a 'pleasure' flight
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