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CARLSBAD: City-owned golf course comfortable in airport's shadow
Monday's plane crash was second on property since summer 2007
By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | ∞
David Sikich, visiting from Utah, tees off on the fifth hole of The Crossings at Carlsbad golf course Tuesday, looking east toward McClellan-Palomar Airport. A small plane crashed at the edge of the golf course Monday afternoon. (Photo by Bill Wechter - staff photographer) 
NCT CARLSBAD ---- Golfers at The Crossings at Carlsbad ---- and officials at City Hall ---- were unruffled Tuesday about the course's proximity to McClellan-Palomar Airport, a day after a small experimental plane crashed into a canyon on the edge of the city-owned property.
"It is scary because when you're on the golf course the planes are coming over you ... not only do you have to worry about your swing, you have to worry about planes coming over," said Gene Paek, a frequent golf course user who lives in 4S Ranch.
But that wasn't going to stop him or others Tuesday morning from playing at the municipal course, which is along the north side of Palomar Airport Road and immediately west of the airport.
Monday's late afternoon plane crash, which seriously injured the plane's two occupants, was the second on the 400-acre golf course property in just over a year. In July 2007, just before the course was scheduled to open to the public, a twin-propeller Beechcraft E90 KingAir clipped a high-tension power line on the property and crashed between the third and fourth holes. Two men onboard died, and the course's grand opening was delayed for weeks.
In Monday's crash, a fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft went down for unknown reasons in an area near the 16th hole of the golf course, police said. The plane had landed at the airport shortly before the incident and taxied to the other end of the runway, where it took off again before crashing, said Bill Polick, a San Diego County spokesman who handles county airport issues.
The names, and therefore the updated conditions, of the two people injured in the crash were not available by late Tuesday afternoon.
The plane, a Cessna 152, was registered to Rainbow Air Academy Inc. in Long Beach, a flight-training school whose aim, according to its Web site, is "to prepare you for your first pilot job." A company employee refused comment Monday night, and repeated calls to the academy Tuesday were not returned.
Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis said Tuesday morning that the two crashes were unfortunate, but added that he has no plans to ask the council to add warning signs for golfers or make other changes at the course.
"I think the golf course is safe, in my opinion," Lewis said, commenting that a plane crash can happen anywhere.
He should know, he added, because back in the 1980s a small plane crashed into the roof of a house three doors away from his home in northern Carlsbad, far from the airport region.
Pete Drinkwater, the director of airports for San Diego County, said that it's fairly common for golf courses to be adjacent to airports. Golf courses are considered low-density developments with few buildings and lots of open land ---- they're perfect "buffer zones" near a busy airport, he said.
"From the airport's perspective, we like golf courses ---- they're very compatible," said Eric Nelson, who serves on a county committee that reviews development proposals for areas near the county's airport properties.
Carlsbad Planning Director Don Neu said that the golf course property is zoned "planned industrial," meaning that it could have had more intensive development such as the manufacturing businesses that are common in the rest of the airport business park region.
Drinkwater said he agrees with the city's perspective that the course is a fairly safe place.
"I think people run a much greater risk when they get in their cars every morning," he said.
Skip Hammann, who managed the golf course construction project for the city, said that the golfers and other folks on the ground at the course have the ability to jump out of the way if they see or hear a troubled plane coming down.
A city maintenance man was mowing the course when last year's crash occurred, Hammann added.
"He was directly in the path of the plane ... and he was able to get out of the way," he said.
A golfer on Tuesday had a similar take about playing on the course with planes overhead.
"If that's how God wants to take me out, have at it," said Carlsbad golfer Frank Garcia, who plays at The Crossings three times a week. "I'm a fast runner, I can dodge it."
Staff writer Colleen Mensching contributed to this report.
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Umm.. wrote on Sep 23, 2008 2:37 PM:Do NCT reports just pull stuff out of mid-air? do they report like parrots, just repeating what ever else they hear? This was not an experimental aircraft. Not that 'experimental' means bad either. Even the other article didn't say anything about experimental. For what it's worth, any aircraft built as a one off, is considered experimental. It does not mean unsafe, parts falling off in the sky, etc.
to umm wrote on Sep 23, 2008 3:42 PM:channel 8 news also reported the plane as being "experimental". Does it really matter?
Mr. Know-It-All wrote on Sep 23, 2008 5:08 PM:The latest "Darwin Award" goes to the City of Carlsbad for building a golf course in the flight path of an airport!
sitting ducks wrote on Sep 23, 2008 10:25 PM:Try jumping out of the way of a Lear jet loaded with jet fuel.
Pilot Guy wrote on Sep 24, 2008 4:25 AM:I just love how a plane crash grabs headlines while a drunk driver fatal wreck is considered a non-issue. I wonder how many people have been killed in or by a car in the general area of Palomar Airport?
More people die in car wrecks and toaster fires or by smoking or drinking or swimming than in plane wrecks.
Plane wrecks are just more dramatic...Hollywood press every time!
cbad nomad wrote on Sep 24, 2008 5:42 AM:The amount of people doubled on the golf course when the plane crashed.
Playing the odds wrote on Sep 24, 2008 7:52 AM:Nevermind that the golfers are about 1,000 times more likely to die in a car accident on the way to the course than they are to be killed by a falling plane from the airport. This story is getting so old. A plane crashed near an airport. Shocking.
Concerned Carlsbad Resident wrote on Sep 24, 2008 7:53 AM:The residents of Carlsbad surrounding he Palomar Airport are very concerned and uncomfortable with the repeated crashes occurring around Palomar Airport. Mayor Bud Lewis, who does not even mention any concern for the citizens and residents of Carlsbad, to whom he supposedly serves, as always shows no lack of concern for the safety of his constituents the residents of Carlsbad.
Karl wrote on Sep 24, 2008 8:03 AM:Mr. Know-It-All @ 5:08 PM:
Of all the developments to be built in a flight path I would think that a golf course would be one of the best. Eighteen emergency landing strips (well maybe 14 excluding the par 3's). The population of a golf course at any one time very low per acre.
Mr. KIA, what is your real problem with golf courses?
Nine Iron wrote on Sep 24, 2008 8:14 AM:New name for the golf course...
"The Crashings At Carlsbad"
Me bad [Grin]
Nine Iron wrote on Sep 24, 2008 8:24 AM:to umm...
Yes, it does matter. Shoddy reporting may lead the reader to assume things that may not be true. By the time the truth comes out, the damage to reputations has been done.
Umm.. wrote on Sep 24, 2008 9:13 AM:Yes- it matters, especially when it's wrong and then people using misinformation as a catapult for spreading more misinformation.
Does it matter wrote on Sep 24, 2008 10:33 AM:Umm..Are you sure that was a catapult and not a trebuchet?
JimRT wrote on Sep 24, 2008 10:37 AM:One more well placed crash will place certain holes of the Crossings golf course within the triangle of DEATH. These holes will then be subject to at least a 5 stroke handicap.
John E wrote on Sep 24, 2008 11:58 AM:For three decades I have worked in the shadow of an airport -- first Clover Field (Santa Monica), then Miramar, now McClellan-Palomar. I concur with the other writers that there are far greater threats to my health and safety than being struck by a falling airplane.
GJP wrote on Sep 24, 2008 12:22 PM:There is a legal difference between "experimental" and "certified" - ask any insurance agent. The Cessna 152 is an FAA certified two place aircraft used primarily for training. When an aircraft is certified, it means the FAA has examined the design, production, maintenance, and operating procedures for the aircraft, and found them to be adequate for operation and SAFE! Experimental aircraft are inspected by the FAA during construction, but don't have certified procedures or maintenance. The 152, despite the amount of time it's flown by student and rookie pilots, is one of the safest vehicles on earth.
As for the airport, it was there long before the people complaining about it. If you don't like living near airports, don't buy a house near one. Better yet, sell it to me at a discount.
DRAMA wrote on Sep 24, 2008 2:07 PM:Hey NCT reporter: Cessna 152's are hardly an experimental aircraft. They've been certified for many, many years. But why report the truth, "experimental" makes the story sound more dramatic. I say retitle the article, "Experimental spacecraft loaded with hundreds of pounds of explosives crashes into city venue loaded with wealthy sportsman"... Technically still true and maybe that would get even MORE readers
"As for the airport, it was there long before the people complaining about it. If you don't like living near airports, don't buy a house near one. Better yet, sell it to me at a discount." GJB, I'm LMAO...I second that, if you (less than brilliant) people who bought houses near the airport don't like airplanes sell me your house at a discount. That's like buying a beach house and complaining about salt-water, swimsuits, and sand...
Too Many Chicken Littles wrote on Sep 24, 2008 2:27 PM:And they love to complain about the golf course anyway, so it fits the bill for them perfectly.
Jay wrote on Sep 24, 2008 8:28 PM:Judging by the high right heel and the awkward left elbow I would bet 5 bucks that the guy in the picture topped that shot into the ravine.
rsxguy wrote on Sep 25, 2008 4:02 AM:i am so sick of whiney rich people complaining about things near there houses or little toy yards...people complaining about bombs and gunfire during exersizes in pendelton..well what the heck did you think you were gunna get when you moved next to the largest marine base in the world..what a bunch of hunky guys to feed your manlusts?..and when you build something by an airport it tends to be a bit noisy...you signed up for it when you moved in so stop your whining
and on another note who thinks it would be priceless to land a golf ball from that course right into an engine of a plane taking off
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