SAN DIEGO — The pilot of a light plane with engine trouble made a safe emergency landing on state Route 125 in Otay Mesa Friday.

The white single-engine Cessna 150C touched down shortly after 11 a.m. on the northbound side of the freeway near the Otay River overpass and rolled to a halt on the eastern shoulder of the roadway, according to the California Highway Patrol and Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft, a 58-year old resident of Mexico, was unharmed.

“He told investigators he routinely made this flight to visit local family and friends,” CHP public-affairs Officer Jake Sanchez said.

The pilot reported losing power while approaching Brown Field airport in southern San Diego at the end of a flight out of Ensenada, Mexico, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

A single lane on the freeway was closed while authorities arranged get the aircraft off the route. It was towed away shortly before noon and escorted by CHP officers to Brown Field where the pilot initially had planned to land.

Traffic was “minimally affected” by the incident, according to Sanchez.

The Cessna is registered to Valley Center resident John Renquist, a commercial pilot, flight instructor, aircraft mechanic and experimental-airplane builder, according to FAA records.