SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Southern California’s weather is a pilot’s dream, and every day, small planes take off and land at San Diego’s eight general aviation airports.
Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan.
“Take off and fly east. You are in a practice area. Lots of room to practice and train pilots. Every now and then we do have problems with our aircraft,” said David Wallace, Civil Airport Patrol.
But pilots are trained for unusual landings.
“We maintain calmness because we practice. When I am flying, I practice engine out landing,” said Wallace.
If it sounds like there are more small planes buzzing around San Diego skies, that’s because there are more than 15,000 single engine planes based in California – more than any other state.
Gillespie is the tenth busiest general aviation airport in the nation because it is home to eight flight schools. In October of 2018, an instructor based out of the Gillespie made headlines when he landed on Interstate-8 freeway during a lesson. Everyone onboard survived.
“People might say this is an unsafe occupation, or profession, but I don’t think so at all. I think it is extremely safe,” said Wallace.
“When an airplane lands on the freeway, it is out of the ordinary and it is newsworthy,” said Wallace.
According to aviation experts, despite the millions of hours planes spend buzzing over San Diego skies, it is not often one lands on a freeway.
“We always have a plan in front of us. I lose my engine, what will I do next? Kudos to the pilot who got this aircraft down and he and passenger got our safely. That is what we expect and train to do,” said Wallace.