Pilot Makes Forced Landing At Prado Dam In 70-Year-Old Plane

CORONA, CA — The pilot of a single-engine airplane successfully landed in a field adjacent to Prado Dam after experiencing engine trouble Thursday while flying near Corona Municipal Airport.

The forced landing occurred about 4:15 p.m. north of the intersection of Auto Center Drive and Railroad Street, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Officials said the pilot of a four-seat Cessna 180 Skywagon, tail No. N2873A, reported difficulties with the 70-year-old plane's powerplant and elected to set the aircraft down in a flat space near Prado Dam, apparently unable to coax the Cessna to the runway at the airport less than a mile away.

It was unclear whether the pilot had just departed the airfield or was making turns in the traffic pattern at the time.

The off-airport landing was uneventful. Corona Fire Department personnel and sheriff's deputies reached the location — which is in an unincorporated area bordering Corona — within a few minutes.

"Upon arrival, deputies located two uninjured occupants," sheriff's spokeswoman Deirdre Vickers said. "There were no reports of property damage."

First responders cleared the area shortly before 6 p.m.

The FAA is investigating the unanticipated landing.

According to the FAA, the plane was manufactured in 1953 and is registered to a Newport Beach woman.