Bryan Kohberger Makes Pit Stop During Plane Flight to Idaho

Bryan Kohberger is flying private to Idaho right now to face murder charges -- and it seems like the teeny-tiny plane he's on needed a break mid-flight... ditto for the suspect himself.

TMZ has obtained photos of Kohberger being led in and out of Flightstar Wednesday -- a fixed-base operator at Willard Airport in Champaign, IL ... where he and a handful of armed officers landed at around 11 AM PT while he was being transported across the country.

Check out the pics ... you can see the aircraft Kohberger and the PA law enforcement officials are traveling in -- a 2015 fixed-wing, single-engine Pilatus that seats 11 ... and which we've learned is actually owned and operated by the Pennsylvania State Police.

Eyewitnesses tell us the plane appeared to be getting refueled ... while Kohberger appeared to be taking a whiz inside. During this period, we're told the entire airport was placed on lockdown -- with everyone being evacuated, including employees -- while he was in there.

A few minutes later, our sources tell us Kohberger was led back to the plane ... and they took off without incident.

If you're wondering why this plane needed to refuel on a flight that typically takes around 4 hours ... well, it has to do with the capabilities of this particular aircraft and the length of this journey. The Pilatus can go about 1,700 nautical miles on a single tank.

Going from Pennsylvania to Moscow is about 1,800 nautical miles ... so they were playing it safe.

In any case, Kohberger's almost there -- as of this post, he's somewhere over South Dakota, so Idaho is just a couple states away. Remember, he agreed to be extradited without putting up a fight ... and now, he'll learn the full scope of the charges and evidence against him.