Civilian aircraft makes emergency landing at Seal Beach military base
Sun rising on reinforced concrete magazines (storage buildings for missiles, ammunition and explosives) at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Depot. A civilian aircraft made an emergency landing on the base Tuesday morning.
A single-engine plane headed to Long Beach from San Diego was forced to make an emergency landing on an Orange County military base Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Witnesses reported hearing the engine of the single-engine Cessna 400 sputter out moments before it landed in a field on the east end of Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station before 9 a.m.
“It was actually a pretty good landing,” said base spokesman Gregg Smith.
The plane landed in a dirt field south of Westminster Boulevard near Bolsa Chica Road, about 1,000 yards away from any military weaponry, Smith said.
The plane is registered to an Oklahoma company, records show. It had left Montgomery Field in San Diego and was bound for Long Beach, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The plane was piloted by a husband and wife who were not injured in the incident, authorities said. Their plane did not appear to be damaged and it didn’t appear they would be arrested or charged for landing on the base.
“At this point it appears to just be an accident. We’ll have to figure out a way to get the plane off the place,” Smith said.
The FAA will investigate the incident.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.
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