Stricken plane lands on I-15;= no one is injured

CORONA: The pilot, 83, says an oil line pulled loose in his sel= f-built Lancair 320 aircraft.

12/31/2002

By STEFANIE FRITH
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

When Ken Nicholso= n crashed his home-made plane Monday morning on Interstate 15 in Coro= na, it must have looked like a movie stunt.

When he hea= rd an oil hose come loose, he maneuvered under a freeway sign, clippe= d a 19-foot motorhome and skidded into the center divider. And no one= got hurt.

The Anaheim Hills pilot, 83, who was on his = way to Corona Airport in his Lancair 320, said he had taken off from = Chino Airport and was flying above the interstate when he had to land= at about 11:50 a.m. He landed the plane south of the interchange lin= king I-15 and Highway 91.

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= Stan Lim/The Press-Enterprise

Ken Nic= holson, 83, of Anaheim Hills stands along the s= houlder of northbound Interstate 15 in Corona a= fter making an emergency landing Monday. An oil = hose pulled loose on his single-engine experim= ental plane.

"The hose just wen= t out, and there I was, looking down, and the only place there was to= land was the freeway," said Nicholson, who piloted fighter plan= es in World War II.

Anne Jones of Tucson, who was drivi= ng a Ford truck behind a motorhome being driven by her husband, Doyle= , said the scene played out like a Hollywood stunt.

= "I am just really stunned that the pilot wasn't injured," she = said. "I can't believe he flew right under the sign."

Doyle Jones said he felt the plane bounce on top of the roof= of the couple's motorhome and then watched in amazement as the littl= e plane landed right in front of him. The Joneses had been on their w= ay to Las Vegas.

Traffic was snarled for hours as= CHP officers blocked the two left lanes of the interstate.

The CHP planned to tow the plane back to Chino Airport, where it= would be inspected, CHP Sgt. David Valle said.

Valle said he has never seen anything quite like this plane= crash. In August 2000, an experimental plane crashed on Interstate 1= 5 in Riverside County, between Corona and Lake Elsinore. The plane sl= id down an embankment and the pilot suffered only minor injuries. =

On Monday, skid marks dotted the interstate lanes for 300 = feet, and the plane lay perpendicular to the oncoming traffic. Nichol= son sat on the center divider, his hands inside the pockets of his gr= een sweatshirt as he stared at the plane.

"I= 'm really sorry this happened," he said. "I hope my wife doesn't = find out."

Reach Stefanie Frith at (909)= 893-2114 or sfrith@pe.com =09

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Stan Lim
The Press-Enterprise=

= An experimental plane hit the top of an RV owned = by Doyle and Anne Jones of Tucson, Ariz., while = making an emergency landing on Interstate 15 in = Corona. No one was hurt. =