Patrick Swayze makes emergency landing

'Shaken but not injured'

June 1, 2000
Web posted at: 5:51 p.m. EDT (2151 GMT)

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Arizona (CNN) -- Actor Patrick Swayze guided his airplane to an emergency landing on an Arizona roadway Thursday after it evidently experienced cabin-pressure problems, a Federal Aviation Administration official tells CNN.

Swayze was unharmed and walked away from the plane, officials said.

The incident occurred about 12 p.m. MDT (2 p.m. EDT) while Swayze, a licensed pilot, was flying his Cessna 414-A from Van Nuys, California, to North Las Vegas, FAA spokesman John Claybes said. Controllers in Alberquerque, New Mexico, lost radar and radio contact with Swayze, he said.

Swayze's plane, with slight damage to the right wing, was found on a road about 38 miles (61 kilometers) northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, he said. He was "shaken but not injured," Claybes said.

His mother, choreographer Patsy Swayze, told CNN he had dogs on the plane with him and they also escaped injury.

Swayze, 47, entered the entertainment business as a dancer in "Disney on Parade." He was in the Broadway production of "Grease" before making his film debut in the 1979 "Skatetown, USA."

He has three Golden Globe nominations, including one for "Dirty Dancing" (1987); "Ghost" (1990); and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" (1996).

Among Swayze's next releases is "Forever Lulu," starring Melanie Griffith as a schizophrenic romantic who tracks down her college sweetheart to help her find their son she gave up for adoption 16 years ago.

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November 3, 1997
Manly actors doll up for 'Wong Foo'
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US IMDb: Patrick Swayze

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