Emergency Landing Awes Freeway Drivers
A small airplane made an emergency landing beside the Riverside Freeway Thursday, backing up traffic for two hours from Anaheim to the Riverside County line as motorists slowed to take in the unusual sight.
There were no injuries and the aircraft was not damaged, said Mark Reeves, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
The plane, a 1948 Navion NA-1 low-wing single-engine aircraft, was carrying the pilot and a passenger from Corona to John Wayne Airport around 4:30 p.m.
Reeves said pilot Angela Jill Adams, 36, of Newport Beach radioed air-traffic controllers reporting a problem with the plane’s fuel pump. She then landed the plane safely in a large dirt area beside the shoulder on the westbound side of the freeway just east of Imperial Highway in Anaheim.
The plane’s passenger was identified as Gerry William Habeck, 48, of Costa Mesa.
Reeves said late Thursday that the plane would be hauled away on a flatbed truck.
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