SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The husband of the pilot who was forced to crash land in a Kearny Mesa parking lot is telling her story for the first time in a statement released Friday.
In a statement released to CBS News 8, William Logan says his wife 52-year-old Devon Logan was returning from a short flight to San Bernadino with her mom 78-year-old Joy Gorian.
“As best Devon can recall, the plane bounced as she was landing (not an unusual event), and she took off to go around and land again. It's similar to a touch-and-go and involves the same general sequence of events. In simplest terms, the pilot applies full power, accelerates to takeoff speed, and lifts off.”
Logan being a pilot himself explains:
“During the climb, the landing gear and flaps are retracted. All of this started as normal, but at some point after takeoff the engine lost power. Devon knew she couldn't climb to clear a series of power lines in her path, so she turned the nose down to fly under them. She knew she needed to turn away from the buildings ahead, so she turned toward the parking lot.”
Logan says that's when his wife went into emergency mode:
“The preliminary indications are that the left main landing gear, which she didn't have time to retract, struck an air conditioning unit on one of the buildings. (The Costco building?) One wing then struck a light or power pole, and the plane came down in the parking lot.”
And as it came down the plane caught on fire, Logan says heroes helped extinguish the flames while working to free his wife and his mother-in-law who were partially pinned in the plane.
Complete strangers helped save his wife's life and for that he is forever grateful.
Devon’s husband says his wife has a compound fracture to an ankle, a broken knee, tibia, thumb, and facial injuries. She is in stable condition, surrounded by her loved ones.