Light Plane Crashes in Parking Lot at John Wayne; 1 Injured

A single-engine light plane crashed in a mostly deserted parking lot north of Orange County’s John Wayne Airport on Saturday night, injuring the pilot but missing parked cars and pedestrians.

Pilot Robley Desmond McCants, 40, of Yorba Linda sustained head injuries and cuts to his face, but he remained conscious when his Mooney M20B plane crashed, said Orange County Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Whitaker.

He was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, where he was being treated in the emergency room Saturday night, nurse Jay Elfe said.

Whitaker said McCants had radioed the control tower shortly before the plane went down a couple of minutes after 5 p.m., informing controllers that he was having difficulties and might be unable to land the plane.

“He was on his way to make an approach to the field and came up short,” Whitaker said. “He missed it by a quarter of a mile.”

The plane’s engine apparently stalled while the pilot was attempting a landing, another authority said.

The pilot was banking into a turn to attempt the landing at the airport when he wound up in the parking lot, Whitaker said.

The plane just cleared the barbed wire fence at the west end of the North Annex parking lot. From paint and skid marks at the scene, it appeared that the aircraft had touched down hard, and then its left wing hit the ground. The plane skidded about 25 yards and hit a light pole, causing the plane to spin 75 degrees.

No parked cars were hit in the accident. Although some fuel leaked from the plane, there was no fire, Whitaker said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA were investigating the accident Saturday night.