Plane Makes Emergency Landing On I-5 In Carlsbad

CARLSBAD, CA — Traffic was flowing in all lanes Friday morning on southbound Interstate 5 in Carlsbad after a Cessna made an emergency landing on the freeway the previous evening.

No one was injured and no vehicles were hit when the emergency landing took place around 7 p.m. Thursday, just south of Tamarack Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The airplane, a Cessna 182 flying from El Monte to Carlsbad, experienced engine failure and the 58-year-old Covina man flying the aircraft was forced to land on the freeway, CHP Officer Mark Latulippe said.

Upon landing within the far left lane and the center divide, the front landing gear gave out and the nose of the plane contacted the concrete lanes as the plane veered to the left and slid to a stop, Latulippe said.

The pilot and a 58-year-old female passenger in the plane were uninjured, the officer said.

The incident prompted the CHP to shut down all southbound lanes near Tamarack Avenue. The agency reopened the number 3 and 4 lanes around 7:45 p.m.

Caltrans tweeted around midnight that all lanes were reopened.

The emergency landing will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

– City News Service