Small Plane Headed for Palomar Airport Lands on I-15

A light airplane sat on the right shoulder of southbound Interstate 15 early Monday morning following an injury-free emergency landing, prompting authorities to predict longer than usual traffic delays in the area due to the visual distraction.

Ken Gheysar, 48, of Orange was piloting the airplane en route to in Carlsbad when it ran out of fuel, prompting the emergency landing, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said in a statement.

"Since traffic was light at that hour he was able to land safely and make it to the right shoulder of the freeway just north of El Norte Road,'' Bettencourt said.

No one was hurt and no vehicles damaged in the emergency landing but a short time later a 74-year-old Poway man driving a 1995 Dodge Dakota clipped the left wing of the airplane as it was sticking out into a traffic lane, Bettencourt said. There was minor damage to the pickup, but the driver was uninjured, he said.

"The airplane was able to be pushed to the right shoulder and will remain on the right shoulder until it is determined how to safely remove it," Bettencourt said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the emergency landing.

–City News Service