Trending Topics

Calif. sheriff’s office plane makes ‘emergency landing’ in field

“[The pilot is] OK. The plane is a total loss,” Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper said. “We can buy a new plane, but you can’t replace a great pilot”

US-NEWS-SACRAMENTO-COUNTY-SHERIFFS-OFFICE-PLANE-6-SA.jpg

A Sacramento sheriff’s plane made an “emergency landing” and came to rest upside down in an open field near Village Parkway and Linden Road in West Sacramento on Thursday. The pilot, left, smiles while talking with sheriff’s department staff after walking away from the crash uninjured.

Lezlie Sterling/TNS

By Rosalio Ahumada and Daniel Hunt
The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento County sheriff’s plane was forced to make an “emergency landing” Thursday morning and came to rest upside down in an open field in West Sacramento.

Trending
As the suspect sprints toward the moving car, clutching a large black bag, the rear door on the driver’s side closes and the car speeds away
The robotaxi failed to make a U-turn, stopping the vice president’s motorcade; San Francisco police officers who were in the area quickly intervened
The Detective Jonathan Diller Scholarship Fund will honor the Long Island native and support students who demonstrate strong leadership skills
McDonnell was elected LA County Sheriff in 2014; before that, he spent 29 years in the LAPD and served as Long Beach’s police chief for almost five years

The pilot in the single-engine Cessna 206 made it out of the plane without any injuries, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. The pilot was seen after the crash inspecting the plane alongside West Sacramento police and fire personnel.

He said the pilot was forced to make an “emergency landing due to a mechanical issue while in the air.” The plane crashed in the open field on the outskirts of West Sacramento near the intersection of Village Parkway and Linden Road. Gandhi said the pilot was taking the plane to a private mechanic shop at Watts-Woodland Airport when it went down.

The plane had departed from Mather Field in Sacramento County and was headed to Woodland for a routine oil change at a mechanic shop. Gandhi said the pilot reported engine failure.

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson said Thursday that the agency would be “coordinating with the FAA to investigate the crash.”

Gandhi said the aircraft that crashed is used typically by the Sheriff’s Office for transport or surveillance.

“The engine seized up over West Sacramento, and he had to make an emergency landing in the field,” said Sheriff Jim Cooper. “It came down OK in the front, but the front wheel dug into the ground in the field, and it flipped over.”

The sheriff said the pilot couldn’t get out of the doors, but escaped through the back of the plane.

“He’s OK. The plane is a total loss,” Cooper said. “We can buy a new plane, but you can’t replace a great pilot.”

©2024 The Sacramento Bee. Visit sacbee.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.