An airplane crash landing on a California golf course brought renewed attention to the need to shout "fore" on the links.
The small private plane, identified as a single-engine Piper PA 28, crashed onto a putting green Aug. 4 at the Haggin Oaks golf complex in Sacramento after losing power shortly after takeoff from nearby McClellan Airport.
According to reports, the plane had reached an altitude of about 400 feet when it lost power and crashed onto the Haggin Oaks complex, where it carved up a practice green then skidded across the pavement before coming to rest against the golf shop. The crash took out a bench and damaged the outside of the golf shop as the aircraft scraped the building before coming to a stop.
No injuries were reported, other than a few scrapes on the pilot, although a startled golfer can be seen on surveillance video leaping out of the way as the plane slammed to the ground.
The event was captured on surveillance cameras, and the crash footage has gone viral to the amazement of Terry Daubert, general manager of Haggin Oaks, and president of Morton Golf Management, which owns and operates the facility.
"It's pretty shocking, right?" Daubert said. "I think what makes it more spectacular are two things: One, nobody got hurt, so that makes it easier to talk about; and two, we got exceptional video because we have two cameras in position to see the flight of the plane as it came in. We've heard it has been picked up by more than 1,000 news outlets as far away as Germany.
"It's amazing no one was hurt. A few inches this way or that, and this could have been really disastrous."
The plane remained in place for three days after the crash roped off with yellow police tape, as National Transportation Safety Board officials completed their investigation.
Superintendent Rick White and his team had cut out most of the damaged turf and resodded the area almost immediately, Daubert said. The half of the practice green that was unaffected remains open. The side under repair will reopen in short order.
"It will reopen in another week, maybe two at the most," Daubert said. "It won't be long."
Haggin Oaks is no stranger to vandalism from troublemakers operating cars, motorcycles and golf cars, but damage from an airplane is a first. When Daubert, who was not on property at the time of the event, learned about the crash over the phone, he thought the caller was talking about a miniature remote-control model.
It's pretty shocking, right? I think what makes it more spectacular are two things: One, nobody got hurt, so that makes it easier to talk about; and two, we got exceptional video because we have two cameras in position to see the flight of the plane as it came in..."
"When one of our other partners told me a Cessna-type plane had landed on the golf course, I didn't know he meant a real airplane," Daubert said.
"We've had worse than that by a car or someone doing wheelies on the green and tearing it up."
Haggin Oaks is one of the most popular golf courses in the Sacramento area, and Daubert is thankful the damage was limited to the turf, pavement and side of the building.
"We're not the busiest golf course, we're not the most lavish and we're not the cheapest either, but we are the most centrally located in Sacramento for golfers," he said.
"No one was hurt, there was minimal asphalt damage, minimal green damage, some clean up and we have to make some repairs, but hey, that is what insurance is for."