Surf City plane crashes, mishaps and tragedies

JERRY PERSON

Today is the start of a new year, and I hope all of you made it

through the holidays without an accident and that Santa landed on

your rooftop with lots of presents.

In a past column, we saw how Santa landed on our beach in a modern

airplane, and this week, we are going to look back to three aircrafts

that hit our shores.

The first accident happened on July 17, 1993 while Huntington

Beach resident Ross Willson was soaking up some rays on the beach

near Newland Street.

It was around 11:30 a.m. that a single-winged Cessna airplane

dropped out of the sky and landed midway between the surf line and

the bike trail. It seems that the Cessna developed engine trouble

while towing a Miller Lite beer banner. When the plane began losing

power, pilot Mike Strobe dropped the banner near the Santa Ana River

jetty and headed toward our beach, nearly missing a group of music

lovers partying on the beach.

The Cessna, owned by Tim Hagenbacker and Strobe, had to be

escorted off the beach by two lifeguard jeeps. There is a city

regulation against taking off on the sand. No one was injured in this

accident, thank God.

Our next aviation mishap occurred on a Saturday also, on Oct. 12,

1946. Lawrence Saunders had just rented a Piper Cub plane from the

Martin School of Aviation in Santa Ana and was cruising offshore

around noon when his motor stopped.

The 40-year-old pilot from Olive, Calif., put the plane in a long

downward glide hoping to land on shore. But luck was against

Saunders, and his plane hit the water about 100 yards offshore from

Beach Boulevard. Meanwhile, back on the Huntington Beach Pier,

lifeguard chief Bud Higgins witnessed the accident and with fellow

lifeguards Monte Nitzkowski, Donnie Combs, Robert Hoyt, Robert

Knisley and Fred Swarts, piled into an old truck and headed toward

the plane.

When Higgins and his crew arrived at the scene, the plane was

floating upside down in the water. Higgins and his lifeguard crew

swam over to the plane, only to find it empty. The impact had thrown

the pilot from the plane and into the cold water. The lifeguards

searched and finally spotted the unconscious pilot floating 150 yards

away.

They got Saunders to shore, but he was turning blue and not

breathing. For more than 30 minutes these heroic lifeguards worked to

resuscitate Saunders, and in the end their efforts paid off as life

slowly returned.

Saunders was transported to Dr. Whittaker’s office, where he made

a quick recovery.

On the day of the final featured accident, it had been a beautiful

Sunday on June 27, 1943 as the Barrega and Silva families drove their

seven children from their homes in Garden Grove to enjoy a nice

picnic on our beach. Other families were relaxing with their children

and trying to forget about the war.

The crowd was watching as a formation of Lockheed Lightning P-38

military planes was practicing diving and shooting at a drone towed

by a fifth plane at 4,000 feet.

Suddenly, one of the planes lurched wildly out of formation and

smoke began coming from one of the engines. As children watched,

pilot G.R. Fair bailed out and floated to Earth in his chute.

Fair’s now-pilotless plane started out to sea but turned and began

to circle back toward shore. What happened next can only be described

as “Hell on Earth.”

The P-38 crashed near the water’s edge about a half-mile from the

pier in a blinding flash that sprayed burning gasoline over a wide

area onto the helpless adults and young children.

Mothers were burning their hands while frantically trying to beat

out flames on their children’s gasoline-soaked bathing suits.

Children were screaming in pain while lifeguard chief Bud Higgins and

several of his men administered first aid.

Ambulances from all over came to transport the burned victims to

hospitals. The Army brought in their ambulances and help came from

the California Highway Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard.

More than 40 adults and children were treated for some kind of

burn that day. As for the Barregas’ and Silvas’ beautiful Sunday

picnic, just minutes before the crash, the parents had gone to their

parked cars, leaving their children playing on the sand. This day

would be the last time that they would gaze on four of their

children’s smiling faces.

Three other children in their family received major burns and were

treated at the Orange County Hospital. In all, the four children were

the only deaths in the worst air disaster to happen in Huntington

Beach history.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.