Pilot, passenger uninjured after crash landing in Mojave Preserve

A pilot and passenger of a small plane were lucky to walk away unscathed after a crash landing in the Mojave National Preserve near Ludlow over the weekend.

Around noon Sunday, the San Bernardino County Fire Department was notified by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies of a plane crash north of I-40 near Ludlow. The pilot had made contact with a Sheriff’s Patrol helicopter confirming their approximate location and that no injuries had been sustained in the emergency landing.

According to the pilot, they were headed from Needles to Chino when the plane, a Beechcraft Sundowner, lost oil pressure in the engine and stalled. The pilot was then forced to make an emergency landing in the preserve, as there were no airfields in the immediate vicinity.

The pilot and passenger were located by SBCFD medical helicopter, who conducted an off-site landing, loaded the patients, then brought them to Barstow-Daggett airport. If it wasn’t for the helicopter response, the pilot and passenger would have to hike four to five miles in triple-digit heat to make it to the nearest road.