A pilot safely landed his powerless single-engine plane on a road west of Duluth without a scratch to him or his aircraft, authorities said.

The desperation tactic brought the Cessna 172K to a safe stop shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday on Midway Road near Stark Road in Midway Township, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said.

There are homes on large lots near the landing spot about 6 miles west of Duluth.

The pilot and the plane's owner, Tyler J. Nelson, 33, of nearby Hermantown, was not hurt, the Sheriff's Office said.

Authorities have yet to say what led to the engine shutting down.

Nelson took off from Superior Airport just across the border in Wisconsin about 1:45 p.m. and was at an altitude of approximately 3,000 feet when his lone engine stalled, the Sheriff's Office statement read.

That's when Nelson lowered his altitude to maintain his speed and made his emergency landing, the statement continued. He later took off in the afternoon from that spot.