After a New York-bound plane carrying David Copperfield was forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois, the magician has made his first public appearance to explain exactly what went on.

He alerted his fans to the trouble on Twitter, and in doing so, raised more questions than answers. "Everyone is ok. Emergency landing in Peoria, Illinois. So scary," he tweeted. He also posted pictures of the situation; one of them was of him at the airport with the caption: "Happy to be on the ground and safe." Finally, though, the magician appeared on the Today show to explain exactly what happened. "We were 37,000 feet in the air and I recorded [the noise] because it was lasting for a long time,'' Copperfield told Matt Lauer and company. "I heard this [crackling] sound and it wouldn't stop. I felt kind of freaked out and they told us we have to it go back for our descent. We were going in a spiral with G force, and we finally got to the ground...and it turned out there was snow all around."

http://www.contactmusic.com/photo/david_copperfield_1754413

David Copperfield looks magical

Copperfield was supposed to appear live on NBC's Today Show on Monday, but ended up filming the interview remotely from Byerly Aviation in Peoria, 160 miles southwest of Chicago. He also promised he would perform a trick for the show, and even though it had to be an impromptu one, he did it nonetheless, conjuring up an airport grounds worker out of thin air.