Aircraft Takes Off On Highway 108/120 Where It Nearly Crashed

Published Nov 11, 2026 6:20 pm

Plane that nearly crashed last month on Hwy 108-120 takes off from the highway—CHP photo

Jamestown, CA – The Sonora Unit of the CHP helped the pilot of a plane take off from Highway 120 after it had to make an emergency landing on private property near that roadway and the Keystone Ranch last month.

The image box and video show the successful takeoff of the plane on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, with the help of officers. It was just on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, that the Piper Cherokee 180D airplane made an emergency landing near Highway 108/120 and La Grange Road. We reported that the Federal Aviation Administration contacted the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Dispatch and that an aircraft dropped off the radar near Highway 108 and J-59. When deputies arrived on the scene, they found the plane and pilot safely on the ground, and no injuries were reported.

Yesterday, November 10th, in a fitting end to this incident, the Sonora Area CHP closed the roadway east of La Grange Road in both directions to allow the plane access to the highway. The CHP reports that the pilot used it as a runway to safely lift off and proceeded in a northerly direction towards Calaveras County.