Low Flying Cited in Light Plane Crash; Pilot, Passenger Unhurt
Two young men walked away from the crash of a light plane on a Malibu-area hillside Thursday afternoon after what officials said was some apparent low flying along the beaches.
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Lee Brown said Gregory A. McDonald, 23, of Ogden, Utah, the pilot, and Robert I. Doering, 21, of Malibu, were “two very lucky guys” because their Cessna 172 Skyhawk slammed into a cushion of brush on the steep slope as it turned in from the ocean.
The plane was demolished, but there was no fire in the 4:10 p.m. crash about 200 yards north of Wilmott Lane in the Latigo Canyon area.
Brown said the plane narrowly avoided a small hill and if “they had hit that, I’m sure they would have been killed, or seriously injured.”
Los Angeles lifeguard Lt. James Richards said witnesses had been reporting the plane flying at an extremely low altitude along the beach and over houses from Santa Monica northward, almost clipping an automobile at Corral Canyon and coming within 10 feet of the Malibu Pier.
Lt. Bob Barrier of the sheriff’s Malibu office said sheriff’s Aero Bureau investigators were questioning witnesses and the crash survivors in order to determine whether the pilot should be cited for reckless flying.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
