Two pilots and two passengers walked away unharmed after one airplane made a crash landing in the Mojave Desert and another caught fire upon landing at San Bernardino International Airport in two separate incidents on Sunday, San Bernardino County fire officials said.
The first aircraft emergency took place just before noon near the community of Ludlow, the San Bernardino Fire Department said in a written statement.
The small, single-engine plane was heading from Needles to Chino when it suddenly lost oil pressure and stalled, “forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in an inaccessible region of the Mojave National Preserve,” the fire department said in a written statement.
The site of the crash landing was several miles from the nearest road, so a fire department H325 rescue helicopter was sent to retrieve the pilot and passenger from the triple-digit heat, officials said.
Officials responded to the second airplane mishap about 6 p.m.
An engine on a small airplane caught fire just after it landed on runway 24 at San Bernardino International Airport, fire officials said via social media.
An aircraft rescue and firefighting engine responded and quickly doused the burning aircraft with fire-retardant foam. The pilot and a passenger were unhurt.
