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First Posted: 7/13/2013
A pilot landed his ultralight plane on the Susquehanna River south of the Cross Valley Expressway bridge early Saturday night and floated the pontoon-equipped aircraft downstream under two more bridges before taking off near the West Northampton Street portal on the River Common. The Wilkes-Barre Fire Department and emergency responders from other municipalities were dispatched in the event it was a crash landing. Shortly after passing beneath the Market Street Bridge, the pilot navigated the aircraft into the middle of the river and took off, becoming airborne around 7 p.m. Stephen Bekanich, the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, was among the responders. “I’m going to look into it and seek if there’s any type of violation. I don’t know if there is and we’ll go from there,” he said.