Irvine : Pilot Walks Away From Plane Crash
An Irvine pilot with engine trouble crash-landed his airplane near Gorman on Thursday but walked away unhurt, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.
Michael Kopp, 31, was flying from John Wayne Airport to Porterville about 2 p.m. when the oil pressure dropped in his Cessna 140, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.
Kopp told officials that he decided to land after he noticed a dirt road near Quail Lake about five miles east of Gorman, which is near Newhall about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles on Interstate 5.
He landed safely, said Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Lee, but “as he taxied, his airplane was hit by a gust . . . and it flipped over.”
Damage was extensive to the wings, he said.
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