Plane towing banner crashes in ocean at lifeguard competition, California officials say

A pilot whose light plane went down in the surf off Huntington Beach had plenty of help at hand, California officials reported.

The plane, which was towing a banner, crashed during a break in the 2022 California Surf Lifesaving Association Junior Lifeguard Championship about 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 22, KABC reported.

“Suddenly we heard a thump,” Corinne Baginski, parent of a 17-year-old competing in the event, told the station. “The kids saw it and suddenly they turned and ran towards it.”

Junior lifeguards rushed out to the plane on their paddle boards to assist the pilot, who was not seriously hurt, KTLA reported.

“It’s instinct,” Adam Sandler, a spokesperson for the event, told the station. “We have an expression, ‘watch the water,’ and that’s what they were doing, they were watching the water.”

The plane crashed just a few yards offshore south of Beach Boulevard, Huntington Beach officials told the Los Angeles Times.

The cause of the crash remains unknown, KTTV reported.

The plane went down in one of the courses for the lifeguard competition, but nobody was in the water at the time, KTLA reported. Contest participants ranged in age from 9 to 18.

Huntington Beach, population about 200,000, is a city southeast of Los Angeles.

This story was originally published July 24, 2022 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Plane towing banner crashes in ocean at lifeguard competition, California officials say."