Release Date:     July 13, 2024
Contact:        Abby Wines (NPS), 760-786-3221, [email protected]
Nichole Andler (NPS), [email protected]
Lindsey Stine (Inyo County), 760-878-8576, [email protected]

Private plane makes emergency landing on CA-178 in Death Valley National Park

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – A small airplane made a successful emergency landing on a road in Death Valley National Park on Tuesday, July 2. There were no injuries.

The private airplane was flying from Pahrump, NV to Ridgecrest, CA when it started experiencing engine trouble over the south end of Death Valley. The pilot changed course for the nearest airstrip, Maury Sorrells Shoshone Airport, but was not able to make it. The aircraft made an emergency landing on California Highway 178 west of Salisberry Pass in Bradbury Wash.

Inyo County Sheriff, Caltrans and California Highway Patrol personnel responded and helped to safely escort the aircraft off the highway and onto a wide shoulder where it no longer blocked traffic and could be parked in a safe location. The plane was later removed by trailer.

-www.nps.gov/deva-

Death Valley National Park is the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone and preserves natural resources, cultural resources, exceptional wilderness, scenery, and learning experiences within the nation’s largest conserved desert landscape and some of the most extreme climate and topographic conditions on the planet. Learn more at www.nps.gov/deva.

Link to video: Video of airplane coasting to park on shoulder after making an emergency landing on CA-178. Video courtesy California Highway Patrol.

Photo credit: California Highway Patrol
A still capture of video of the private plane being escorted off CA-178 after an emergency landing on July 2, 2024.