Wind Forces Small Plane off Runway

A small passenger plane spun out on the main runway at John Wayne Airport on Wednesday afternoon, forcing airport officials to stop all incoming and outgoing flights for 45 minutes. The plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza A-36, was landing at 1:45 p.m. when heavy winds apparently caused it to spin off of the runway, airport spokeswoman Pat Ware said. No one was injured.

In addition to the pilot, whose name was not released, five other people were aboard the six-seat plane, which was returning from an afternoon flight to Catalina.

As a result of the incident, which caused some damage to the aircraft, at least two departing flights were delayed for an hour. Ware did not know how many incoming flights were delayed.

“No flights had to be diverted to other airports,” Ware said. “It happened in the middle of the day, which is not a real heavy time here for commercial flights. If it had happened in the morning, we would have had a lot more delays.”

Ware said it was the first “crash landing” to occur at the airport this year. She said the incident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.