Stolen Plane Crash-Lands at Fullerton Airport

Police are searching for a pilot who crash-landed a stolen Cessna at Fullerton Municipal Airport on Saturday and escaped from a security guard.

The pilot managed to land a Cessna Golden Eagle on the Fullerton airport runway at about 4:40 a.m. despite landing gear that was not locked properly, said Fullerton Police Sgt. Douglas Cave. The plane thumped down on the runway and skidded on one wing before stopping on a grassy area alongside the runway.

A security guard, who witnessed the landing, ran to the plane and confronted the pilot. The pilot said he was injured and needed medical help. The security guard told investigators that the pilot had no visible injuries.

The security guard drove the pilot to the tower, where he called for help. When the security guard returned, the pilot had disappeared.

Police said the plane was stolen early Friday morning at Van Nuys Airport. Investigators say the landing gear was deployed only 30%.

Police said they did not know whether the plane had been used for illegal transportation. But Cave said: “It’s not unusual or uncommon for somebody to steal a plane this size and use it for a drug run. They just dump the plane off somewhere and leave.”