Pilot Lands Sputtering Plane in Dry Lake

A pilot escaped injury Monday when he brought his malfunctioning, single-engine airplane down for a bumpy landing on the dry, sandy bottom of a small lake that had been drained for maintenance, police said.

Stephen Thomas, 28, of Santa Barbara said he was bound for San Diego to deliver freight but began experiencing engine trouble and had to make an emergency landing on the dry bed of Anaheim Lake while trying to reach Fullerton Airport.

“The engine was rough,” said Thomas, who added that he has about five years’ flying experience. “I was 7 miles out (of Fullerton) and losing altitude.”

Thomas landed the Piper Lancer at about 8:45 a.m. in the lake bed in the 3400 block of East Miraloma Avenue, about 2 1/2 miles northeast of Disneyland, and rolled about 200 feet before the plane’s nose wheel struck the soft sand, crumpling the front end.

City crews working at the lake saw the landing and telephoned police.

The pilot was fortunate that he found Anaheim Lake empty when he needed a landing field, city officials said. The lake, which is used for fishing, is drained about twice a year, but most of the time it is full.

Anaheim Police Sgt. Richard Zschoche said the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident. Zschoche said the plane belongs to Ameriflite, a freight hauler based in Santa Barbara.

“He looked around for a place to land,” Zschoche said, “and this is just soft dirt. He squished his engine” when the plane came to a halt.

“It is not his (the pilot’s) fault the engine doesn’t work,” Zschoche said. “I’m just glad he made it down.”

An FAA spokesman said “the evaluation of damages is substantial, but there were no injuries and that’s the main thing.”

The National Transportation Safety Board will determine the precise cause of the forced landing, the FAA spokesman said.

Thomas, who smoked a cigarette as police and fire officials inspected the wreckage, said he originally left Burbank Airport, then stopped in Ontario on his way to San Diego. After he resumed his trip south, the plane’s engine began to malfunction, so he tried to divert to Fullerton Airport but made it only as far as the lake bed.

The airplane wasn’t the only thing stuck in the soft lake bottom. An Anaheim police car that had driven onto the lake bed also became mired in the soft sand. A four-wheel-drive city maintenance truck pulled it free.