A Susanville pilot is breathing a lot easier today after a blown engine at 10-thousand feet forced him to make an unscheduled landing on a north state highway.
This is where John Schnider's single-engine piper-Cherokee finally ended up, parked along Highway 70, about a mile east of Pentz Road north of Oroville.
The pilot ... with 30 years experience ... told Action News that he was headed to meet family in Oroville when about 10 minutes into his flight, his engine began to sputter.
Schnider said he lost all power while flying over Quincy. He thought about landing at the airport in Chester but that was fogged in and that left him without any other safe landing options.
Schnider said, "I thought, well, I'll climb as far as I can, as long as the engine is running. So, I got up to 10,000 before it quit. Then it was just gliding, find a place to put it. "
Fortunately there were no cars in the way and Schnider was able to land safely.###
