Pilot safely lands Kings County Sheriff's Office patrol aircraft after engine failure.
KINGS COUNTY, Calif. — A pilot was able to land a plane after it experienced engine failure mid-flight, the Kings County Sheriff's Office says.
It happened Wednesday around 8:30 p.m.
According to deputies, the Kings County Sheriff's Office patrol aircraft, SkyKing1, was flying over Corcoran on a routine patrol.
From 1,200 feet above ground at 100 mph, the pilot, John Voss, a volunteer for the Kings County Sheriff's Office patrol plane, told FOX 26 News how he and his crew mate, a tactical flight officer, radioed dispatch and the Lemoore Approach when something went wrong.
Deputies say the patrol aircraft was in the area of State Route 43 and Oregon Avenue when the plane experienced sudden engine failure that caused the plane to lose power.
Dispatchers moved fast sending deputies, firefighters, and other emergency crews to help out.
Voss was forced to navigate in the darkness, knowing that could possibly lead to a crash landing but he somehow managed to find the Boswell airstrip located in the City of Corcoran along SR 43.
Voss says he has spent decades flying and he says an engine going out is a problem he has never had before.
Sky King 1, is a flight design CTLS those planes have been sold since 1997. There are more than 1,800 of them flying worldwide and nearly 400 in the U.S. The engine a Rotax 912IS2 which is widely used, and according to some, a dependable engine.
"We had a problem that wasn't covered in any of our procedures. It was a compound emergency that we had not trained or seen before," said Voss.
Despite being in a risky situation, Voss and his partner's emergency training kicked in. He was able to safely land the aircraft and walked away without any injuries.
