A teenage pilot of a single-engine plane successfully made an emergency landing on Monday morning, saving himself and three of his family members.
Brock Peters, 18, says he heard the plane’s engine “pop” as he soared above Cajon Pass, a mountain pass in Southern California between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains, according to KTLA.
“We’re coming through the pass and I hear a boom and then I lose all my engine power,” Peters told CBS Los Angeles.
Peters was en route to Riverside Municipal airport for breakfast with his grandma and two cousins, but after the plane’s engine went out, he knew he could not safely make it to an airport.
“I can hear my grandma crying in the back,” he said, per CBS News Los Angeles. “I’m like ‘I’ve got to tune her out, focus on what I need to do and get this plane down safely and make sure everybody is OK.’”
To reach safety for himself and his family members, his only option was to land the Piper PA-28 near a two-lane highway in the Cajon Pass, Peters explained, per CNN.
Peters, who obtained his pilot’s license just four months ago, kept calm and tried to remember everything from training. He made his descent, dodging power lines on the way down, and successfully landed the plane without causing any damage to the aircraft.
“I knew I was going to land it,” Peters said, per CBS Los Angeles. “I knew I was going to. But to not hit anything that’s God’s intervention right there.”