August 6th 2024.
As the golfer focused on his putting, little did he know he was about to have one of the scariest experiences of his life. The peace and tranquility of the green was suddenly shattered by the sound of a plane crash landing just a few feet away from him. In a state of shock, he stepped back as the plane skidded across the concrete before finally coming to a stop. Nearby surveillance cameras captured the whole incident, showing the small plane making a belly landing right in front of the golfer, who could only watch in disbelief.
Another CCTV clip, this time from a different angle, showed the aircraft sliding through the grass and concrete, narrowly avoiding any vehicles or structures in the parking lot. The golfer's identity was unknown at the time, but others at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California were also caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events. It was later revealed that the single-engine Piper PA-28 had suffered an engine failure while taking off from the nearby McClellan airport.
Tim Colin, one of the golfers on the course, recalled the frightening moment, "We were on the 16th hole when this happened. Our group heard a loud crash, but we had no idea it was a plane." The pilot was incredibly lucky to find a nearby golf course to make an emergency landing. "Luckily, there was a golf course nearby where he could lay it down," said Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Justin Sylvia.
The plane finally came to a stop just a few feet away from the Haggin Oaks pro shop. Ken Morton Jr, the vice president of Morton Golf, couldn't believe his eyes. "Literally 10 feet to the right, it would have gone through our glass door, straight into the pro shop. I have lots of staff, lots of customers in there, and it would have been really disastrous. The fact that everyone ended up being okay is truly a miracle." The pilot, who suffered a small hand laceration, was also lucky to have walked away from the crash.
The incident caught the attention of the media, with CBS News reporting, "This is something we don't see very often," said Capt. Sylvia. "The remarkable thing about this situation is that no one was injured." The crash is currently being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Ethan Sison, who was golfing on another side of the course, was one of the first witnesses to the crash. "I saw the skid marks and I was like, 'What is that?' I thought it was a car at first," he told reporters. Luckily, no one on the ground was injured, and the homeowner, Fred Robertson, expressed his gratitude that the plane had stopped short of his house. "Definitely counting my blessings," he said.
Just a few weeks earlier, another small plane had crash-landed in a front yard in northern Utah, and the homeowner was lucky that the plane had stopped short of the house. It was a frightening reminder of how quickly things can go wrong, and how fortunate everyone was to have escaped unharmed. As Robertson put it, "It isn't too often planes fall out of the sky." The golfer, who had narrowly avoided being in the line of fire, couldn't agree more.
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