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Plane flips over at airport; no one is hurt
Mechanical problem forced pilot to return
Photo by James Glover II
An experimental aircraft landed upside down after the pilot returned to Camarillo Airport on Tuesday.
STORY TOOLS 
More from CamarilloA small plane flipped over and landed upside down during an improvised landing at Camarillo Airport on Tuesday afternoon, but the two men onboard walked away unscathed, authorities said.
Shortly after takeoff from the airport, a mechanical problem in the plane forced the pilot to return just before 5 p.m. and attempt to land from the west, opposite normal runway traffic, Ventura County Fire Department Capt. Pete Jensen said.
The plane touched down on the runway but overran it, Jensen said. When the nose wheel caught the soft dirt past the runway, the plane flipped.
Workers at a construction site across Las Posas Road from the airport said they heard a loud crash and saw a cloud of dust when the plane hit a field on the airport grounds east of the runway.
An ambulance was dispatched to the scene but was called back before it arrived, as the two occupants did not require medical attention, authorities said.
Their names were not available Tuesday night.
Jensen said the plane was an experimental aircraft with a single modified engine.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
It was the second crash in three days at Camarillo Airport. On Sunday, a pilot died when his plane crashed as he was trying to pick up an advertising banner on the ground.
Posted by OxnardNative on September 3, 2008 at 6:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What's that sound in the sky, is it a bird, is it a plane, either way, you better look up these days and make sure it's not coming crashing down on you! There are far too many planes crashing far too often in Ventura County these days. The FAA ought to set up a satellite office somewhere between the Oxnard and Camarillo airports! :-/
Posted by wynonarose on September 3, 2008 at 6:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So glad no one was hurt this time.
I wonder what was experimental about the plane. From the picture it looks like any other plane.
Posted by just_a_thought on September 3, 2008 at 7:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oxnard and Camarillo airports might want to take a lesson from the North Las Vegas Airport and take some drastic measures regarding these small, lightweight, and/or experimental airplanes before they start dropping out of the sky onto homes with innocent residents in them. NLV airport has had it happen almost at the rate of one a year resulting in loss of life to the residents as well as the pilots. How would you like to lose your life to an airplane crash while sitting in your living room watching TV or eating breakfast at your kitchen table? Not good :/
Posted by whoislistening on September 3, 2008 at 7:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Legal_American, you are an alarmist and you need to look at the statistics before you post. Every time a car runs off the road do you say "We need to get these cars off these roads or someone is going to get hurt"? Of all 14 or 15 forced landings and/or crashes that occurred in Ventura County in the past twenty years, how many of them have killed someone on the ground? Is that a zero I'm hearing? Why is that? It is because the highest-risk portion of a flight happens within the perimeter of an airport's property (during takeoff & landing, which is where both of these accidents occurred this week). If you keep the houses outside of the immediate airport vicinity (which is the case at Camarillo) you seriously mitigate the risk of anyone on the ground being injured.
Posted by omie on September 3, 2008 at 7:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I drove by the site a few hours afterwards, thought I remember seeing this airplane in the airshow.
Can anyone find out how long that airport has been there.
For all the folks here that want to move the airport its the same situation with Nellis AFB, and Luke AFB, and few others in the US. The old farts and pansies are complaining about noise, low flying jets, safety. Well shucks chuckle blocks, the airports have been there long before they built houses around it.
It was only a matter of time before someone here started wining. I don't particulary like the outlet malls right next to where I live all the congestion and traffic it brings every weekend, you don't see me wining about having someone move those overpriced stores somewhere else.
I have worked on Mil jets and I can tell you that the aircraft flying in our airspace are far safer than the Ford or Toyota you would be driving to work today.
Posted by BabyzDaddy_01 on September 3, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like these aviators need to find better mechanics to work on their planes.
Posted by 6bucks on September 3, 2008 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you whoislistening. Plane crashes don't even come close to killing as many people as cars. Not to mention the maintenace, aircraft inspections and pilot requirements are far stricter than drivers. You can practically go to the
DMV and fart and they'll give you a drivers license. I'll take flying over driving any day of the week.
The rest of you chicken littles watch out. The sky is falling. *LOL*
Posted by handyhood on September 3, 2008 at 8:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Answer to questions- The Cam airport has been there since the late 40s early 50s. It was originally a Military airbase.
An experimental aircraft is on that is "home" built and not by a manufacture. Most are kit planes.
As noted, most of these accidents have occured on or in the vicinity of the airport.
You have as much of a chance of being hit by a piece of space debri as you do an aircraft. To my knowledge, since 1991, out of 15 small aircraft accidents, not one person on the ground has died, and in this instance not even the occupants where hurt. So, all you alarmist, Take a chill pill!
Posted by momofash on September 3, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
omie, The Camarillo airport was originally part of the Oxnard Air Force Base when I moved to Ventura County in 1964. and then it was surrounded by fields and fields and fields and fields and ....
Posted by LarryTheLoungeLizard on September 3, 2008 at 9:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To all you alarmists and catastrophizers out there - this accident only made the news because it was a plane. It simply "ran off the road" so to speak by overruning the runway. It didn't fall out of the sky and no one was hurt. Had it been a car accident, we would not be reading about it. I totally agree with all the posters who say to you: Take a chill pill and worry about real dangers.
Posted by brwnoso on September 3, 2008 at 10:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Now thats luck
Posted by Ironhorse on September 3, 2008 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Legal_American; Not again! This is unbelievable! How can we continue to allow city councils and developers to build residential tracts around and under flight patterns where we just KNOW that planes will fall like leaves upon our poor heads. To all of the knee-jerkers; It's been said before, but it's worth saying again. Aircraft in general, and experimental aircraft in particular, go through much more exacting inspections; and they do so based on the number of flight hours on the airframe and engine, not some half-baked annual vehicle inspection like you or I might submit to.
And those EAA pilots are even more careful, cause they know it's their butts in a hurt if they don't build it right!
If you are afraid of planes, get away from the airport!
Posted by BeaHappi on September 3, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, it's been a bad week for planes...
Posted by just_a_thought on September 3, 2008 at 3:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To all of you "slammers" I say: just a matter of time....just a matter of time!!!
Posted by gnu154 on September 3, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good job pilot, for getting the plane down and walking away from it. You are a member of a very exclusive - and small - group of people who have survived an aviation accident.
Remember: If you can walk away from it, it was a good landing. If you can use the plane again, it was a great landing.
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