Panic on packed California beach as plane loses engine and crash-lands among crowds

A pilot and his 16-year-old nephew cheated disaster Monday when their single-engine plane lost power and was forced to make an emergency landing on a crowded Southern California beach packed with spectators for the U.S. Open of Surfing.The Piper PA-28 touched down safely on Huntington State Beach just south of Magnolia Street after the pilot reported engine trouble shortly after taking off from John Wayne Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.Miraculously, neither of the two people aboard nor anyone on the sand was hurt.The Piper PA-28 landed on the state beach south of Magnolia Street early Monday afternoon, according to Jessica Cuchilla of the Huntington Beach Police Department (ABC7)Witnesses watched in disbelief as the plane glided toward the beach before touching down near a lifeguard tower."I just couldn't believe what I was seeing," one witness told CBS Los Angeles. "It was just amazing. I'm just so happy they landed and nobody got hurt."Pilot Mike Bremner said he was headed to Van Nuys when the aircraft suddenly lost power."The engine shut down," Bremner said, adding that he declared a mayday before searching for the safest place to land.Photos from the scene showed the plane on the beach near a lifeguard tower (Huntington Beach Police Department)With the plane at roughly 1,000 feet, Bremner said there was little time to make a decision."We ran a very quick check to try to get the engine going again," he told NBC Los Angeles. "We had to determine very quickly where to land."He chose the beach, configured the aircraft to glide as far as possible and brought it down safely."I really just followed my instincts," Bremner said. "Luckily it turned out this way."At the time of the landing, the beach was crowded thanks to the 2026 U.S. Open of Surfing (Getty/iStock)His passenger, 16-year-old Griffin, was flying with his uncle for the first time while visiting from Canada for a basketball tournament."About five minutes into our flight, the plane slows down, the propeller slows down, and the plane sputters a little bit and shakes," the teen told KTLA. "He just looks over and tells me, 'Griffin, the engine is failing. We're landing on the beach.'"The plane is registered to Elder Abuse Air Force, a nonprofit organization that works to protect older adults from financial scams and abuse. Bremner said he was flying to one of the group's meetings when the engine failed.Despite the frightening ordeal, Bremner said the incident has not shaken his confidence in aviation."I fly corporate jets for a living and have utmost confidence in aircraft and the way they're maintained," he told The Los Angeles Times. "This was an unfortunate experience, but I'll absolutely be flying again."The FAA said it will investigate what caused the engine failure.