GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A small plane that had made an emergency landing on a highway near a North Carolina airport was hit by a vehicle, injuring one of the aircraft's occupants, authorities said.

The single-engine plane experienced a mechanical failure and put out a distress call around 8 p.m. Wednesday to Piedmont Triad International Airport, Greensboro police said in a news release.

The plane landed on westbound Interstate 840 at the junction with Interstate 73, and after it stopped, a passenger vehicle hit it, police said. One of the two people on the plane was taken to a hospital with a minor injury, police said. The driver of the passenger vehicle was not hurt.

Greensboro police will investigate the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the airplane malfunction.