Yet Another Highway Landing: This Time, All’s Well That Ends Well

A new highway forced landing is making viral YouTube history thanks to dashcam video. This one came to a flaming finale, but fortunately both occupants of the Piper PA-32 were able to get out before fire engulfed the cabin on Tuesday (Aug. 9). In addition, all three occupants of a Toyota pickup truck, struck by the right wing of the aircraft as it landed on Route 91 in Corona, California, were also uninjured.

Pilot Andrew Cho told television reporters, "We weren't going to be able to make the airport landing field [Corona Airport – KAJO] without possibly hitting a building and so I had to make a decision to land on the freeway." California Highway Patrol Captain Levi Miller told television news reporters, "The traffic was light and the pilot appears to have made some good landing navigations and avoided what could have been a very bad tragedy."

Cho and his passenger were en route to Catalina Island for lunch when the engine lost power at around 12:30 p.m. local time. His successful landing (everyone walked away) is one of a series of recent highway landings, unfortunately not all with such positive results.