CENTERVILLE — A pilot who made an emergency landing on a Western Pennsylvania toll road has been billed nearly $3,000 by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, over and above $1,000 he initially paid for the plane to be towed from the scene.

Brian Nicholson of Upper Speers said he believes much of the bill is unnecessary because he had a mechanic prepared to replace the plane’s damaged propeller so he could fly away.

But he says turnpike officials wouldn’t let him do that, and are now billing him to pay crews who removed the plane from the Mon-Fayette Expressway after the Aug. 5 landing.

The turnpike commission says it’s standard procedure to seek reimbursement in such situations.

But Nicholson says the emergency landing was a life-or-death decision for which he shouldn’t be charged.