Forced Landing on Westside Golf Course Hurts 2

A small plane burst into flames after it crashed into a pine tree during an emergency landing on a Westside golf course Sunday, but the pilot and a groundskeeper braved the fire to drag a passenger to safety.

Balmore Flores, a groundskeeper at the Hillcrest Country Club in Rancho Park, said he rushed from his quarters on the golf course when he heard the plane’s motor sputtering overhead.

“When I got out . . . I saw the airplane hit the tree and then the plane was on fire. Then I saw the explosion and I ran to the airplane. One man was an invalid. He could not walk, but the other man helped me and we pulled him out,” Flores said. “He was bleeding from his face and I gave him my handkerchief.”

Flores, 53, a Salvadoran immigrant, suffered a light burn on one wrist but won a kiss on the forehead from Hillcrest President George Konheim for his actions.

The pilot, John Adair, 43, suffered a broken arm, apparently from using his arm to break the impact of the crash on his passenger, who was cut on the forehead and one cheek, witnesses said.

The two men were taken to UCLA Medical Center, where Adair was in good condition and scheduled for transfer to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The passenger, and owner of the plane, Parvez Gondal, 41, was treated and released. Both men live in Los Angeles but neither was immediately available for comment.

The pilot told police that the plane’s engine may have thrown a rod while en route to Santa Monica Airport.

Club members said the plane appeared to suffer engine trouble over Century City, which lies just north of the exclusive country club on Pico Boulevard. After informing the control tower at Santa Monica Airport that he was losing oil pressure, Adair circled and appeared to be trying to land on the 18th fairway. But he headed for the less crowded ninth hole when he apparently saw that the 18th was full of golfers, witnesses said.

After skipping down the middle of the ninth fairway, the plane slammed into the pine tree near the eighth tee. The impact ignited a spare fuel tank hanging under the left wing of the Cessna 210.

Firefighters arrived shortly before noon and put out the blaze in 12 minutes, Los Angeles Fire Deparment spokesman George Acevedo said. No one else was hurt.