No injuries reported after small plane lands on I-35W near I-694, hits 1 vehicle

A small plane landed on Interstate 35W in Arden Hills on Wednesday night, temporarily closing traffic lanes.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a single-engine Bellanca Viking plane made a suspected emergency landing just before 9:30 p.m.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation said the plane landed in the northbound lanes near County Road E2, just south of I-694.

The State Patrol identified the pilot of the plane as 52-year-old Craig Gifford, of Minneapolis.

As the plane landed, it crashed into another vehicle on the interstate but nobody was injured.

Witnesses said they were shocked when they found out there were no injuries reported in the incident. Tori Hoehne lives with her roommates in New Brighton and was home when she heard the crash.

"We were just watching a movie and we heard a super loud thud, and it kind of made us all look at each other, like what was going on?," Hoehne said. "Then we just continued watching the movie, and shortly after heard a ton of sirens."

Minnesota 511 says northbound traffic lanes were expected to be closed for about six hours. The lanes had reopened as of Thursday morning.

Authorities are still investigating why the plane crash-landed.

This is a developing story. Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on air and online for the latest updates.