A jet blast wholly flipped a small plane on the runway of Orange County's John Wayne Airport. As reported by Simple Flying, the wild incident left pilots scrambling to figure out what had happened to the Cessna Skyhawk.
Air traffic control audio from nearby pilots shows another Cessna explaining to them what had happened. The plane, which was taxiing behind the one that had flipped, explained that the plane, designated N57BM, "just flipped over".
At the time, the pilot said the plane had been "blasted" by what looked like a United Boeing 737 jet blast.
Concerningly, there was no response from either of the pilots at the time. Although the ATC tried to contact them, it turns out they'd turned their engine off as a safety precaution.
Emergency services arrived at the scene to see the plane entirely flipped over - luckily, both occupants of the plane were uninjured. The plane ended up needing a crane to flip it over, with it later being towed away.
There has been no proper confirmation as to what plane caused the jet blast. Orange County Flight Center, the operator of the Cessna, explained in a statement that they believed it was "a United or Southwest jet".
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The Operators of the Overturned Plane Later Spoke Out
Per CBS News, the Cessna's operator later opened up about what happened. It turns out there was a flight instructor and student on the plane at the time. They had just returned from a test flight.
"We were scared, we were definitely scared," they admitted.
"As soon as we started to turn to the left to enter to the parking lot... We experienced a big southern strong airflow. At that moment, we lost completely the control, and then the airplane started to tip over."
Despite what had happened, the student said that it's not going to stop him from flying. "It was definitely a terrifying moment for sure, but I've been pursuing this job as my dream ever since I graduated from college, so..."
We hope that this incident is fully investigated. In any case, we're glad that no one was harmed. What a terrifying situation!
