A single engine plane crashed on Interstate 85 in central North Carolina. The pilot was severely wounded in the impact and is in critical condition at a hospital, authorities said.
He was airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill were he is currently receiving treatment.

The crash brought the traffic to a crawl in both directions, but was back to normal late Friday night.

The man flying the aircraft was identified as Richard Fuller of Durham. He was the only one aboard the plane which crashed on Friday night. There were no other injuries in the incident, reports showed.

The jet was a Piper J3 Cub and was made in 1947. It was registered to Richard Fuller, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. The jet crashed near a tractor-trailer wreck that caused a diesel fuel spill.

The yellow plane crashed at about 7 p.m. near short of Lake Ridge Aero Park near an airport located about 15 miles west of Durham. The cause of the crash is still unknown and investigators couldn’t tell whether the pilot was trying to reach the highway.

The pilot lives in a subdivision near the airport according to Durham County Sheriff's Capt. Ricky Buchanan.

The Federal Aviation Administration started an investigation into the cause of the incident.