Two people were killed when a small, homebuilt airplane crashed near a California golf course and erupted into flames, leaving horrified witnesses describing the aircraft’s final moments before it plunged to the ground.
The deadly crash occurred Wednesday, October 7, shortly after the plane took off from Petaluma Municipal Airport, approximately 40 miles north of San Francisco.
The aircraft, identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Van’s RV-7A, went down in a grassy field beside Rooster Run Golf Club around 10:45 a.m.
Witnesses reported seeing the plane behaving erratically, appearing to struggle to remain airborne before making a sharp turn and falling from the sky.
Andrew Sabin, who was playing golf at the time, said he noticed the aircraft flying dangerously low.
“I saw the plane careening almost sideways. It was almost 100 feet off the ground,” Sabin told ABC7 News.
“It looked horrible. What I saw.”
Sabin said the sound of the aircraft’s engine initially caught his attention. When he turned around, he saw the plane tilt sideways before suddenly descending.
Moments later, he heard a loud impact and saw flames erupt from the crash site.
Other witnesses reported that the aircraft appeared to circle near the golf course before attempting to return toward the airport.
Goran Jelenic, a pilot who witnessed the incident, told ABC7 that he heard an unusual sputtering sound coming from the aircraft.
He believed the pilot might have been attempting to return to the runway.
Another witness, Rooster Run Golf Club marshal Bob Kates, described watching the plane fly near the clubhouse before changing direction.
“It came around and came up and circled around by the pro shop and turned around and headed back south again,” Kates recalled.
The aircraft ultimately crashed into a field near the golf course, leaving wreckage scattered across the grass.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene after receiving reports of a downed airplane.
When Petaluma police officers arrived, they discovered the aircraft completely engulfed in flames.
Firefighters immediately began battling the blaze, extinguishing it within approximately three minutes of their arrival.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.
Once the flames were under control, emergency responders discovered two people dead inside the wreckage.
Neither occupant survived.
Petaluma Police Lieutenant Zilverio Rivera confirmed that the victims were discovered after firefighters extinguished the burning aircraft.
Authorities have not publicly identified the two victims, pending the appropriate notification and identification procedures.
No injuries were reported among golfers, employees or other people on the ground.
The location of the crash added to the frightening circumstances.
Rooster Run Golf Club sits directly beside Petaluma Municipal Airport, making low-flying aircraft a familiar sight for golfers and staff members.
However, witnessing an aircraft crash so close to the course was particularly unsettling.
Kates said the incident brought back memories of previous aviation accidents in the area.
“It’s a little scary,” he told ABC7. “There have been prior plane crashes here in the past. Scary that it’s here near the airport.”
Local reporting indicates that other aircraft have crashed near the airport and golf course over the years, including an incident near the ninth hole in which the pilot survived.
Officials have also acknowledged previous gyrocopter accidents at the airport, although those incidents did not result in fatalities.
Wednesday’s deadly crash involved a Van’s RV-7A, a small experimental aircraft popular among aviation enthusiasts who build their own airplanes.
Unlike commercial passenger planes, the RV-7A is typically assembled from a kit purchased from Van’s Aircraft, an Oregon-based manufacturer.
The two-seat, single-engine airplane is designed primarily for recreational flying and can be constructed in a suitably equipped home workshop.
Van’s Aircraft describes its RV series as one of the world’s most successful lines of kit-built airplanes.
The aircraft are widely used by private pilots, but their homebuilt classification means individual airplanes can vary depending on their equipment, construction and maintenance history.
The fact that an airplane is homebuilt does not automatically mean it is unsafe or that its construction contributed to an accident.
Investigators have not determined whether mechanical problems, pilot decisions, weather conditions or another factor caused Wednesday’s crash.
Van’s Aircraft issued a statement expressing condolences to the victims’ families.
“Everyone at Van’s Aircraft is deeply saddened by the fatal accident involving an RV-7A near the Rooster Run Golf Club,” the company said.
The manufacturer also extended its sympathy to everyone affected by the tragedy.
Company representatives declined to speculate about what caused the aircraft to go down, emphasizing that federal investigators would be responsible for determining the circumstances.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, with the NTSB taking the lead in determining the probable cause.
An NTSB investigator arrived at the scene Thursday, October 8, to begin documenting the wreckage and examining the aircraft.
Investigators will review the condition of the airplane’s engine, flight controls and structural components for evidence of a possible mechanical failure.
They will also examine available flight information, maintenance records, weather conditions and witness statements.
Video footage showing the aircraft shortly after departure may also help investigators reconstruct its final moments.
Local reporting indicates that a recording captured the plane gaining altitude after taking off before its engine noise became quieter and the aircraft began descending.
However, a change in engine sound alone does not establish that the engine failed.
Investigators will need to determine exactly what happened during the brief flight.
The wreckage will be transported to a secure facility for a more detailed examination.
The NTSB expects to release a preliminary report within approximately 30 days, although that document may not identify the cause.
A final report establishing the probable cause could take one to two years.
The crash also prompted authorities to temporarily close a portion of East Washington Street between Garfield Drive and Adobe Road while emergency personnel and investigators worked at the scene.
Aerial footage from local television stations showed the burned remains of the aircraft surrounded by scorched grass, debris and yellow police tape.
The severity of the wreckage underscored the violence of the impact.
Petaluma police expressed their sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives.
“Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those involved in this tragic incident,” the department said.
For witnesses who watched the aircraft struggle in the sky, the tragedy unfolded in a matter of seconds.
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