At 1:04 PM today, my mother-in-law sent me this text message: “Plane went down on sand at 13th street.” I learned later that she was in the middle of getting her hair done at a salon in town when she received a call from one of our neighbors saying, “Come join us down at the Seal Beach air show… a plane just crash landed on the beach at 13th Street!” We live on 4th street just Northwest of the Seal Beach Pier (Main Street), and 13th street is just Southeast of the Pier, so I was surprised that I didn’t hear more commotion outside. How could a plane crash so quietly? I was in the middle of doing homework when I received the text message, but after a few minutes hesitation, I persuaded myself to take a break. So, I grabbed my camera and jumped in my truck to check out the scene.

By the time I arrived, a tractor was already on the beach dragging the plane across the sand to a nearby parking lot. At the end of this post, there is a Flickr Slideshow that includes all the photos I shot as I watched the process unfold. FAA officials arrived to investigate, so you’ll notice guys in slacks and nice shirts peering at the engine along with mechanics from the plane’s charter company. I counted five news vans with their towering antennas. ABC News had the most personnel there.

I talked with one of the fire chiefs for awhile, and he filled me in on what happened. The plane is what’s called an Extra 300. It’s no ordinary plane; it’s an elite aerobatic aircraft. Have you ever heard of the Red Bull Air Race? Extra 300’s are a popular choice among its competitors.

In this particular case, the aircraft was chartered to take a passenger out for a thrilling aerobatic flight over the ocean. Clearly, he got his money’s worth! Fortunately, the client (passenger) was a former marine pilot, so he was cool under pressure. Apparently, the plane’s engine inexplicably cut out while they were flying about 3-4 miles off shore. The pilot immediately turned towards shore, hoping he had enough time to glide to in for an emergency landing. As he approached Seal Beach, he turned Northwest and landed on the beach South of the pier, coming down parallel to Ocean Avenue. Onlookers said that the pilot made an amazing landing. Somehow he was able to lightly touch the sand and get the wheels to roll for 50-70 yards, slowing the plane considerably prior to the wheels digging in too deep to roll. Once the wheels dug in, it caused the plane to tip on to its nose, bringing the aircraft to an abrupt halt. You can imagine that if he were unable to slow the plane down for several yards, then it might have flipped when it slammed on its nose. One blade of the propeller broke and two gallons of fuel spilled out, but other than what ever caused the engine to fail, the plane is in remarkable shape.