Mike Bremner brought a Piper PA-28 Cherokee down on Huntington State Beach after the plane lost engine power within five minutes of takeoff on Monday. The Huntington State Beach aircraft emergency ended with Bremner and his 16-year-old nephew, Griffin Bremner, walking away without injuries.
The plane had left John Wayne Airport for Van Nuys and was about 1,000 feet up when the engine quit, Mike Bremner said. He told the tower, "Cherokee 4521 Romeo, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. We've lost our engine."
Huntington State Beach landing
The emergency landing happened just after 2 p.m. near Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway, about two miles south of the pier. No injuries were reported for the pilot, the passenger, or bystanders on the beach, even though the landing came near the 2026 U.S. Open of Surfing area.
Mike Bremner said the response followed the steps pilots train for. "When that happens, we run by memory," he said, adding, "Given that we were only at 1,000 feet, we immediately made sure the plane was flying at such a speed that it would glide the farthest," and then, "When I realized that it wasn't going to start again, I looked to my right, I saw the beach, the winds were relatively light, and we set it up for landing and we touched down."
Mike Bremner and Griffin Bremner
Griffin Bremner said it was his first time flying with his uncle. He recalled, "He's like, 'Griffin, we're going down,'" and said, "The plane starts to stutter a little bit, and the propeller slows down and whatnot, and then he starts steering towards the beach." After the landing, he said, "I actually grabbed a rock from under the wheel to remember the incident," while Mike Bremner said, "I think we're extremely fortunate" and "Grateful is the word for it."
The FAA will investigate what went wrong with the engine. Mike Bremner said the pre-flight checks were normal and the takeoff was normal, which leaves the failure itself as the unresolved piece in a flight that ended on the sand instead of over the city or water.
