Plane narrowly misses golfer as pilot makes emergency landing on golf course

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) – The pilot of a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a California golf course after the plane’s engine failed shortly after takeoff.

Tim Colin was among those playing golf Sunday afternoon at the Haggin Oaks golf resort in Sacramento, California, when a plane made an emergency landing on the course.

“We were on the 16th hole when this happened. Our group heard the loud bang, but we had no idea it was a plane,” Colin said.

Dramatic surveillance video shows the plane landing on its belly and gliding quickly across a practice green, narrowly avoiding hitting a golfer.

The plane came to a stop and rested against the Haggin Oaks golf shop, according to Ken Morton Jr., vice president of Morton Golf, which operates the golf course.

“Literally 10 feet to the right, it would have gone through our glass door, right into the sporting goods store,” Morton said. “I have a lot of staff, a lot of customers there, and it would have been really disastrous. The fact that in the end everyone was OK is really a miracle.”

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Piper PA-28, a single-engine plane, had just taken off from McClellan Airfield, less than five miles away, when the plane’s engine failed. At about 400 feet in altitude, the pilot had to find a safe place to make an emergency landing.

“Luckily, there was a golf course nearby where he was able to leave it,” said Capt. Justin Sylvia of the Sacramento Fire Department. “No one was hurt. Amazingly, the pilot was able to get out of the aircraft with only a minor injury to his hand.”

Golfers like Fred Robertson are thankful everyone is OK.

“I’m definitely very grateful,” Robertson said. “Normally, I putt right on that green… but, by pure chance, something told me to wait before I got here. And it did. It’s not very often that airplanes fall out of the sky.”

Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

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