A small single-engine plane was forced to make a dramatic emergency landing on Highway 407 late Friday night after a fuel problem caused the aircraft to lose power.

Miraculously, no one was injured and there were no traffic accidents in the aftermath.

“This is probably a first for the OPP and for Highway 407,” said OPP Const. Peter Leon. He said the plane narrowly missed an overpass west of Warden Ave., in Markham. There were also power lines in the area.

The plane was parked on the three westbound lanes of the highway until about 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, when police arranged to have it towed to Buttonville airport. The 407 had to be closed from Warden Ave. to Woodbine Ave. in Markham.

Rae Simpson, senior investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, confirmed it was a fuel problem that caused the plane to lose power. The board will conduct an investigation into what caused the issue.

“I think (the pilot) was both skilful and fortunate in getting it done,” Simpson said.

The plane is a 1974 single-engine Piper, registered to a Toronto address. A woman who answered there confirmed that her husband had been piloting the aircraft. She declined to provide her name, or that of her husband.

The woman said her husband, a recreational pilot for more than 10 years, told her his engine had stopped and that he was forced to land.

“He’s a meticulous and detailed person, so he probably did everything he could do and learned how to do,” she said, referring to the emergency landing.

She said during his many years as a pilot, he never had any major technical problems.

“Normally he calls me when he lands,” she said, adding usually she is only a little worried when he flies. “But now I think I will be really worried.”

She said she had no further information and was waiting to hear back from her husband.

Police said the pilot was not injured in the landing and they could not confirm whether the plane experienced a mechanical error. Fire and emergency services personnel were also on scene.

Police said it was fortunate the traffic was light at the time of the emergency landing and also fortunate that the pilot was familiar with the area.

The pilot had been on a flight from Lindsay and was heading to Buttonville airport when he ran into trouble. The plane was towed to Buttonville airport early Saturday morning.

In another incident earlier this year, a small plane crashed near Buttonville airport. Andrew Archer, 23, crashed into a parking lot in the 16th Ave. and Highway 404 area near the airport. The Cessna 172 Archer was flying was owned by Skywords Inc., a Toronto-based company that offers “outdoor advertising solutions" to businesses, as well as airborne traffic reports.

With files from Hayley Kelman