Plane Lands on Busy S.D. Street; 1 Motorist Hurt

A private plane experienced sudden engine trouble and was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday on busy Balboa Avenue, injuring one motorist seriously and leaving dozens of other stunned rush-hour travelers marveling at their good fortune in avoiding any harm.

“It’s just amazing more people weren’t hurt,” said Larry Stewart, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department.

One man escaped without injury even though the single-engine aircraft ripped through the side of the van he was driving and appeared to narrowly miss his head.

“I guess I was just lucky,” said Kurt Frank, of San Diego, as he sat in the remains of his ruined van. “It was an unexpected birthday present,” added Frank, who celebrated his 34th birthday.

One man who was not so lucky was listed in serious condition in Sharp Memorial Hospital with multiple injuries. The victim, Calvin Burns of San Diego, said to be in his mid-50s, was inside a car that was crushed by the plane; paramedics had to remove him from the wreckage.

The airplane’s pilot and sole occupant, Bruce Goodwillie, 28, of San Diego, was said to be shaken but otherwise uninjured in the crash, which occurred shortly after 6 p.m. amid moderate traffic. The pilot remained on the scene as investigators questioned him. He declined to talk to reporters.

The Federal Aviation Administration and San Diego police were investigating.

The crash was the second time in the past six months that a single-engine aircraft from nearby Montgomery Field was forced to make an emergency landing on Balboa Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare in northern San Diego. No one was injured in the earlier incident, which occurred Sept. 12.

Also, three people were killed and two fatally injured when a twin-engine plane--which had taken off from Montgomery Field--crashed and exploded in the nearby Gemco parking lot on Balboa Avenue on Feb. 17, 1983.

In Wednesday’s crash, authorities said the pilot of the Cessna 182 was practicing landings and takeoffs from Montgomery Field when the engine began to malfunction. Realizing that he couldn’t return to the airport safely, officials said the pilot looked around for a suitable street to land on before he touched down on the westbound lanes of Balboa Avenue, just east of the intersection with Interstate 805.

The plane plunged head-on into the rear of three lanes of cars stopped for a red light. At least five cars were struck by the plane, which apparently came to a stop when its nose and propeller burrowed into the back of an Oldsmobile sedan.

“I was hit from behind, and I thought I was in a fender-bender with another car,” said Jeanie Grugel of San Diego, whose car was rear-ended by another vehicle pushed ahead by the crashing aircraft. “I was very surprised when I got out and found out it was all caused by an airplane.”

Despite the severity of the incident, only the one man was seriously injured. Another motorist suffered a cut lip but was not taken to the hospital.

There was no official word on who owned the plane. Authorities declined to comment on the pilot’s qualifications.

At the crash site Wednesday evening, the flashing red lights of fire trucks and police vehicles illuminated the twisted wreckage, broken glass and damaged cars. Investigators and safety personnel inspected the cordoned-off area and kept onlookers away. In the midst of it all was the severely damaged aircraft, its nose and twisted propeller jammed into the Oldsmobile.

After the crash, Balboa Avenue was closed in both directions for several hours while investigators searched the scene. Afterward, cleanup crews began to prepare the area for the renewal of traffic.