LOS
ANGELES (AP) — A small plane that made headlines when it landed safely
on a Southern California freeway years ago crashed on the same stretch
of road, slamming into a car and killing a woman in the vehicle.
Five
others, including the pilot and his passenger, were injured in the
crash on a stretch of Interstate 15 that has been the scene of several
emergency landings.
Witnesses
said the single-engine plane appeared to be having problems before it
banked and came down Saturday, California Highway Patrol Officer Chris
Parent said. One man said he didn't hear the plane's engine as it passed
overhead.
The
Lancair IV landed on its belly and skidded about 250 feet before
striking the rear of a black Nissan Altima sedan that was stopped on the
shoulder of the road in San Diego County near Fallbrook. The driver of
the car had pulled over to synchronize the Bluetooth device on his
phone, Parent said.
The
impact crumpled the back of the car, fatally crushing Antoinette
Isbelle, 38, of San Diego in the back seat and injuring three others in
the vehicle, authorities said.
"The
plane went completely into the trunk and pushed the rear bumper almost
into the rear passenger seat," said John Buchanan, spokesman for the
North County Fire Protection District.
Pilot
Dennis Hogge, 62, and his female passenger suffered major injuries,
Parent said. The driver suffered moderate injuries, and his other two
passengers were expected to survive their injuries.
The
plane was once owned by major league catcher Matt Nokes, who made a
noteworthy landing on busy I-15 when the engine quit on its second
flight on Feb. 18, 2000.
Nokes guided the high-performance $500,000 plane to a smooth landing and safely taxied off the road without injuries.
Nokes
went on to fly the plane every day for five years without incident
before selling it. He said it had been rebuilt several times since he
sold it.
"It
was crazy," Nokes told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Everything
worked out so beautifully. It was almost a humorous thing.
Unfortunately, it doesn't always turn out that way."
When Nokes heard about the crash, he unsuccessfully tried to reach Hogge. He didn't realize Hogge had been injured.
He described Hogge as a good man, an outstanding pilot and a master plane builder.
"It's
just horrible to hear about," said Nokes who spent 11 years in the
majors, mostly with the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees.
The
stretch of freeway is no stranger to unusual landings. Parent said he's
aware of three other planes that have come down on that stretch of
freeway about 50 miles north of San Diego in the past decade.
Nokes
said the freeway is a popular route for flying because there are fewer
flight restrictions than along the Interstate 5 corridor.
The
crash caused major backups throughout the day on the freeway that runs
from the Mexican border through Las Vegas and Salt Lake City to Canada.
The
Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety
Board will investigate the crash, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
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