A pilot made an emergency landing on the sand of Huntington Beach late in the evening of Thursday, October 23, after a single-engine plane suffered a complete engine failure.
No injuries were reported following the incident. This is the third airline crisis in Southern California in the past three weeks.
The plane is identified as a 1973 Cessna 172 that took off from the Santa Barbara Airport en route to John Wayne Airport around 8:30 p.m.
After one hour of flight, the pilot reported a loss of engine power and an inability to reach the intended destination.
Corbin Carson, Huntington Beach Public Affairs Director, said, “The pilot landed the plane on shore after reporting an engine problem and being unable to return to John Wayne Airport. »
The situation was investigated from the air by the Huntington Beach Police Department’s HB-1 helicopter, whose pilot heard the distress calls.
The Cessna pilot used his visual contact with the helicopter crew and masterfully steered the aircraft to a smooth landing between emergency towers 11 and 13 near the pier around 9:30 p.m.
“The landing was accidental and neither the pilot nor the passenger, as well as other bystanders on the beach, were injured,” authorities confirmed.
The plane was undamaged during landing, necessitating the removal of heavy machinery from the beach.
This landing and emergency landing are the third and fourth recent air accidents in the region, following a helicopter crash in Huntington Beach that hospitalized five people and the forced landing of a plane in Long Beach on October 21.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have also been notified and will also begin investigations into the cause of the engine failure.
