(Reuters) - A pilot of a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing early on Sunday on a busy Chicago expressway that skirts Lake Michigan after waiting for a gap in the traffic, authorities said.

The single-engine plane landed in the northbound lane of a stretch of Lake Shore Drive, just a few blocks east of the skyscrapers of the Loop.

The pilot, who was the only person on board, escaped unscathed, and no other injuries were reported, a police spokesman said. The plane may have bumped against one or two cars but without causing major damage, the spokesman said.

The pilot said he was having mechanical problems with the tail of his aircraft, the fire department said.

A few first responders hefted the plane out of the northbound lane onto the grass, and traffic had since returned to normal.

(Reporting By Jonathan Allen; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)