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

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.

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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.”

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