Small plane makes emergency landing near Highway 41 in Madera County

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Authorities are investigating what went wrong with a plane that made an emergency landing just inches from Highway 41 on Sunday.

The Madera County Sheriff's Office says the pilot was heading from Carlsbad to Reno when he realized he was losing fuel. He didn't have time to radio for help, but he did manage to bring the small aircraft down in a field near Avenue 12.

It turns out his original plan was to land on the highway because, at first, he didn't see any cars in the area.

"As he was coming down, there was a car that was actually going too slow. He had no choice, he immediately went into the vineyard, made a hard landing, skidded and came to stop through the barbed wire," said sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart.

No one was hurt, but traffic was backed up for about two hours as crews worked to free the plane from the barbed wire and load it onto a tow truck.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are now investigating the incident.