What could have caused the plane to crash on a Sacramento golf course? ‘That is really rare’

Shortly after the small blue and white Piper Cherokee Arrow airplane took off from McClellan Airport, the pilot called air traffic control: “Return to airport. Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Loss of engine power.”

He was low, flying at less than 500 feet in altitude, about twice the height of the state Capitol building. The pilot knew he would not make it to the airport. He decided to make an emergency landing at Sacramento’s Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on Fulton Avenue.

Security camera footage showed the pilot had maneuvered the plane to avoid hitting a tree, but the wing struck the ground, leaving a huge divot as it slid across the practice putting green. It stopped at the course pro shop, making minor contact with the building.

Justin Owens was chipping on the practice green when he saw the plane coming down just over his shoulder. He watched it crash land and continue into the pro shop — and was relieved to see the pilot exit the plane a minute later.

It unfolded for him on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 4, both fast and slow:

“It really happened so fast that I didn’t have much time to react,” he said. “It wasn’t on line to hit me so I didn’t move or anything like that. It was just happening in slow motion.”

Emergency plane landings on golf courses are rare, and the Federal Aviation Administration estimates small plane crashes average only about 1,500 per year. Crashing on a golf course, or in any civilian area, is uncommon and pilots don’t train for an emergency landing at such a low altitude. An aviation emergency landing sends shudders through those who think of what might have gone wrong and makes news nationally and internationally.

It also raises the question, what is a pilot supposed to do? What is the procedure for an emergency landing at such a low altitude? The pilot of this plane did not returns calls to comment, and the accident is still being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. But an expert on aviation, reviewing the footage, concluded putting the plane down on the greens was the best possible option.

An expert’s view

Scott Miller, an adjunct professor of aviation at Sacramento City College and a flight instructor at the Sacramento Executive Airport, said he was able to determine more about the crash after reviewing additional surveillance footage from the golf course and flight data from the plane.

“When you do experience the engine failure at the altitude he did, 400 feet, there’s no way you’re going to be able to turn around and go back to the airport,” Miller said. “So this particular airplane, which I do have some experience in, at about 800 to 1,000 feet is when you’d be able to safely have enough altitude to get the airplane turned around and back toward the airport.”

For context, 400 feet is roughly the size of 10 school buses lined up or the width of two cruise liners.

From footage of the landing, Miller could tell the pilot was well-experienced and handled the situation as well as expected, especially because no one was seriously injured.

He said a pilot would want to maintain airspeed, and lower the nose of the plane out of the climb position. Then, the pilot would need to find open space during an emergency landing, so heading for the golf course was a good plan.

“That low to the ground, you’re going to find a place where you can set it down, because there is not going to be a lot of time in a situation like this,” Williams said. “At 400 feet, your airplane is going to be on the ground anywhere from 30 to 45 seconds, maybe a minute at the best.”

Viewing the footage Miller reiterated the pilot handled the situation as best he could, as pilots don’t train for engine failure at such a low altitude. However, he said he would consider showing the air traffic control video and audio to aviation students to illustrate an emergency — albeit, unlikely — scenario .

“The golf course was the best choice,” he said. “I would have done the exact same thing.”

What the crash was like

Miller said that this type of aircraft is very quiet as it is gliding, which is why Owens did not notice the plane until it hit the ground.

Jenna Williams watched from the Honda dealership across the street as it glided to the golf course. She and her managers rushed to help, and she said the smell of the airplane fuel struck her as she crossed the street.

She saw the plane’s right wing nearly snapped off as it struck the building, and fuel leaked from the left wing. The landing gear also broke off as the plane crashed, kicking up grass and dust. The propeller was bent, which Miller said will be significant to NTSB investigators.

Williams rode with her managers in their golf cart to the crash site. They found the pilot had already exited the plane and they offered him help and a seat in their cart to rest.

“I actually spoke with the pilot as well, with my manager,” she said. “He was shaken up, obviously, but he was saying he was fine, but he did have a couple cuts. He just said that he had to call his mom, and he had left his glasses inside the plane,and so he couldn’t see anything.”

Sacramento Fire Department public information officer Justin Sylvia said the pilot did suffer minor cuts to his hand and did not need further medical treatment.

Possible causes

The FAA preliminary report classified the situation as an accident. Miller said that bent propeller suggests a loss of power. As the plane glides, he said, the wind resistance pushes it back.

He speculated about multiple reasons why the engine would fail in this situation, most concerning fuel.

“(There are) a few main reasons why general aviation airplanes quit,” he said. “One happens a lot more frequently than the others, and it’s things to do with fuel, like maybe a fuel line broke, maybe the fuel selector valve that controls the flow of the fuel it broke...”

However, he watched footage of fuel gushing out of the airplane and eliminated the possibility of the plane running out of fuel. He questioned whether it was the correct fuel.

Miller said he heard from a report that the fire department was concerned about the plane leaking jet fuel. He said this airplane does not use jet fuel, but instead runs on aviation gasoline, which he compared to kerosene.

He acknowledged that his assumption is based on footage from the crash and would need to be confirmed by investigators.

Miller said pilots train for engine failure scenarios at high and low altitudes, but never at less than 1,000 feet. Landing in a populated area is even more rare, as most forced landings happen in empty fields.

“The area of the ground that’s covered by cities, particularly in the West, is really small,” Miller said. “When an engine quits, the pilot is going to be able to typically find a nice field to land in. To have to make a decision to land on a golf course — that is really rare.”

This story was originally published August 12, 2024 at 2:00 PM.