Plane Crashes in Venice Street; No One Injured

An instructor and student pilot escaped serious injury Friday when their small plane lost power, struck utility lines and crash-landed upside down in a Venice intersection, dropping its nose gear on a passing car.

The occupants of the Cessna 150 were helped out of the two-seater by passers-by who rushed to their aid as downed power lines crackled around the upside-down plane.

A nearby motorist, Caryn Doran, 35, of Santa Monica, said she felt “lucky to be alive” after a wheel and other equipment broke loose from the aircraft and smashed through her car’s windshield.

Police said the flight instructor, Albert Henry Schaaf, 42, and student, Julian James, 36, were practicing touch-and-go landings at Santa Monica Airport when the single-engine plane had an apparent power failure. They attempted to make an emergency landing on the beach but realized that they were too far away and tried landing on the street instead.

The low-flying plane struck a power line at 7th Street and Rose Avenue, breaking off its nose gear. The main wheels caught on two other lines, spinning the plane around. A witness said the plane bounced once off the street before landing upside down, its propeller hanging inches from the pavement.

“I ran over to the plane and unbuckled one of the guys from his seat and pulled him out,” said Greg Monk, a painting contractor who was working on a building near the crash site.

“There were downed power lines all around us,” said John McFadden, another witness who helped the two men out of the plane. “I heard a crackling sound right by my foot. I didn’t want to move.”

“It’s an experience I don’t want to go through again,” said Kenny Shea, a third passer-by who helped the men out of the plane.

Both Schaaf and James walked away from the crash and did not need any medical attention.

Doran also escaped injury when the nose gear shattered her windshield. Doran said her attention had been diverted because she was looking for a parking spot on the street.

“If I had been looking forward, I probably would have gotten glass in my face,” Doran said. “The metal strut (of the nose gear) came through the window.”

“Of course I feel lucky to be alive,” she said. “But my insurance company is never going to believe this.”

The plane is owned by Danford Aviation, based at the Santa Monica Airport. A spokesman for the company said he had no idea what might have caused the apparent power failure.

After talking with police and a Federal Aviation Administration investigator, Schaaf and James declined to discuss the incident.

“The best thing is that no one on the street was hurt,” Schaaf said.

Said James, who claimed 50 hours of flying time, “Sometimes these things happen.”