Pilot Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Quits
A malfunctioning fuel valve forced a pilot to land his rented airplane in the Santa Clara riverbed south of Piru on Monday afternoon.
The pilot, 40-year-old Terry Lanis of Anchorage, was finishing his solo flight from Shoshone in Inyo County, about 72 miles west of Las Vegas, to the Santa Paula Airport when he lost power about 4:10 p.m. and landed the small Cessna 150 in the dry riverbed near Torrey Road.
“The engine quit and I landed,” he said.
One of the first people to arrive at the scene was Lanis’ flight instructor, Jim Laszlo, 31, of Santa Paula. Lanis had earlier hired Laszlo to help him brush up on his emergency maneuver training, which included unscheduled landings.
Sgt. Frank Segall of the Sheriff’s Department also went to the area where the plane landed, about one mile south of California 126, fearing the worst.
“I saw the plane down in the riverbed with the guy walking back and forth kicking rocks,” Segall said.
Prompted by a stiff easterly breeze and dwindling daylight, Lanis and Laszlo pushed the airplane downwind and started its engine after making a few adjustments. Lanis then took off heading east, turned around, and flew to Santa Paula Airport without further incident.
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