LANCASTER – Two people were injured when a small plane crash landed in the Lake Hughes area Thursday night, authorities said.
Firefighters were called about 8 p.m. to the area of Maxwell and Lake Hughes roads, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The Beechcraft BE36 was en route from Bakersfield to Fox Field in Lancaster when it went down in a field about 20 miles west of its destination, according to Ian Gregor of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Two people aboard the plane sustained injuries, county fire department Supervising Dispatcher Michael Pittman said.
Both were flown to a hospital from the scene, which was inaccessible by ground units, according to Cmdr. Mike Parker of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
The plane’s pilot used his cellphone to notify authorities of the crash, Parker said.
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UPDATE: The 70-year-old male pilot and 74-year-old male passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and both are doing well, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
The crash scene was secured by Palmdale Sheriff’s Station patrol deputies pending the response of the Sheriff’s Department Aero Bureau and FAA investigators, who were scheduled to arrive Friday morning.
Tim Scott says
I’m impressed. I can’t think of anywhere near Lake Hughes to put a plane down without getting absolutely shredded. To get in with two out of three injured and none killed was either terrific skill or just a staggering amount of luck. Good on them either way.
Best to all involved and their families.
My Dixie Wrecked says
Hey Tim, I could think of a couple of places that you could land. Dry Lake Elizabeth. Long enough to land a plane easily. Scotty’s Castle aka the Sky Ranch. It has a small air strip. Wouldn’t be hard at all to land there. As long as you knew that they were there. Makes me wonder why a plane coming from Bakersfield going to Fox wound up 20 miles to the south west from where they wanted to go. Sounds like they were either lost or sight seeing.
Tim Scott says
Wow. I didn’t realize Lake Elizabeth was that dry. Been quite a while since I was out that way.
I’d have to guess lost, since I can’t imagine there is much in the way of aerial sightseeing after dark up there. Can’t really figure how they could have gotten lost either though, since one would think that from the air identifying Lancaster at night would be pretty easy (lot of light).
All in all good to hear the injured are doing well.