One person suffered minor injuries Saturday evening when a small plane landed in the westbound lanes on Interstate 580 near the 164th Street in the Ashland neighborhood of unincorporated Alameda County just west of Castro Valley, authorities reported.
The single-engine Cessna 172 made an emergency landing on the freeway about 6:45 p.m. Saturday after the pilot reported a rough-running engine, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration Pacific Division spokesman said in an email.
The plane's registered owner is Fly Fe LLC, based in Reno. Gregor couldn't say tonight where the plane's trip began, but it is known the pilot was trying to get to the Hayward Airport when a fuel line ruptured.
"Occupants advised the officers the fuel line snapped and caused the airplane to loose pressure and the airplane landed safely on the freeway," said Michael Nobosel from the California Highway Patrol.
The plane was not damaged, nor were any vehicles on the freeway hit by the plane. At 8:15 p.m., the plane was still blocking the right westbound lane of the freeway, said CHP Officer James Evans.
There were two people in the plane, Evans said, and one of them reported a "complaint of pain."
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Westbound freeway traffic backed up quickly after the landing. The CHP issued a "Sig Alert" in the area, denoting a major traffic tie-up that would take time to clear up.
"It's hard to believe to see something like this, to see this ever, I mean you don’t see something, a plane come down on a freeway, not very often," said witness Robert Castro.
Gregor said the FAA will investigate why the plane was forced to land.
