A pilot was forced to land his small aircraft on Highway 40 in Quebec City on Thursday morning.

Around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, the pilot of the Piper Cherokee aircraft called the Quebec City fire department asking for permission to land on the highway just a few kilometres south of the Jean-Lesage International Airport.

Jean-Paul Daoust was in the parking lot of his nearby garden centre, Floralies Jouvence, when he saw the aircraft coming down over the highway.

"I was pretty surprised," said Daoust. "First time I've ever seen a plane on a highway, except in the movies,"

Fire department spokesperson Bill Noonan said the plane had already landed safely when emergency crews arrived on site. The pilot was not injured.

Traffic was halted for less than an hour while emergency crews escorted the plane off the highway.

Quebec provincial police confirmed a mechanical problem forced the pilot to make the surprise landing.