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Airplane lands on highway Pilot OK after emergency Foul weather Friday night forced a pilot to turn Highway 230 west of Crater Lake into his personal landing strip. Both the pilot and the plane, a single-engine four-seater, were unharmed. The man, 39-year-old Dana Huddleston of Tacoma, Wash., was flying to Klamath Falls from Washington on a practice run for his commercial pilot�s license, according to state police Sgt. Michael Buckman. He was flying visually beneath the clouds � without the aid of instruments � when he encountered bad weather and decided to land. "We don�t particularly care for people landing on highways," said Buckman. "But if it�s an emergency, it�s better than trying to continue to fly and crashing." Huddleston picked an "excellent" spot by chance, said Buckman. He touched down the Cessna 172 on a two-mile straight stretch where the trees were cut away on both sides. He parked the plane completely off the road at a trailhead turnout. "He actually did a pretty good job," said Buckman. He said Huddleston had more than 350 hours flying experience with the plane. After landing, Huddleston hitched a ride to Beckie�s restaurant in Union Creek, where he met with state police. He was embarrassed and nervous but otherwise OK, said Buckman. State police, with the help of a bow-hunter, located the plane at mile marker 15 on Highway 230. The owner of the aircraft, Joseph Hoffman of Tacoma, made arrangements to return the plane to its hangar in Washington. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA