Texas pilot lands on road, parks at church

ATTALLA, ALABAMA - A Texas man flying a single-engine plane made an emergency landing on an Etowah County roadway Wednesday after his engine quit at 17,500 feet. Then he parked at a church. <br> <br> Murray Holland was flying from Dallas to Atlanta when the Cessna 210&#39;s engine blew and splattered oil all over the windshield, he said. <br> <br> Holland is chairman and chief executive of Convergent Media, a communications technology company. <br> <br> He requested an emergency landing at Gadsden Municipal Airport, but realized he couldn&#39;t keep the altitude necessary to make it the five miles to the airport. <br> <br> He was about 80 feet above U.S. 11 when he decided to land. <br> <br> ``There were very few cars, but I was going faster than they were,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> After climbing to avoid power lines, he quickly had to dive to fly below more. <br> <br> Holland set his plane down about 400 yards from Shiloh Church, where church member Raymond Steapleton walked outside. <br> <br> ``I saw the airplane and he had the door open pushing it,&#39;&#39; Steapleton said. ``It was a strange sight.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration are inspecting the plane&#39;s engine, authorities said.