A plane made a wild emergency landing in the middle of the highway shortly after taking off from Dulles

• A Southern Express Airways flight carrying seven people made an emergency landing on a Virginia highway.
• The small plane was forced to divert just minutes after leaving Dulles Airport on Friday. 
• Highways are a common choice for pilots in need of an emergency landing because they are paved. 

A small plane made an emergency landing in the middle of a busy highway just moments after it took off on Friday.

A Southern Express Airways flight carrying seven people, including two crew members, departed Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Friday headed for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a representative for the airline told Business Insider.

The flight quickly diverted and made an emergency landing on the Loudon County Parkway, flight tracking data shows.

Photos from the scene show the single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan sitting in the middle of a roadway with emergency response vehicles surrounding it.

No injuries were reported, and all the passengers are "safe and sound," according to a statement from Southern Express Airways.

"We are thankful to our pilots, who did exactly what they were trained to do — to put the safety of our passengers first," the company said. "We are working closely with the authorities to thoroughly investigate the situation, and we will take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety and security of our passengers and our fleet."

It was not immediately clear what forced the emergency landing.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a Friday statement that it would investigate the circumstances of the short-lived flight.

Dulles Airport also commented on the incident, saying it received reports of a departed aircraft landing off airport property on a nearby roadway around 12:50 p.m. local time.

Pilots train for a variety of potential emergency landings, especially those at the helm of low-flying general aviation aircraft, which don't always have enough time or altitude to reach the nearest runway during emergencies, Business Insider previously reported. 

Highways are often the next best choice because the roads are paved.