Local News in Brief : Pilot Unhurt After Emergency Landing

A pilot taking off from Torrance Municipal Airport made a successful emergency landing on a nearby street after the engine of his light airplane failed. There were no injuries or damage on the ground.

Robert Anderson of Harbor City, who was alone in the plane, said he had just raised the landing gear after taking off about 1:15 p.m. when the engine of his Beechcraft Bonanza suddenly quit. He said he had only seconds to turn the craft and glide in for a belly landing on the eastbound lanes of Lomita Boulevard, several hundred yards west of Crenshaw Boulevard.

Paramedics in a truck saw him coming in and helped clear a space in the traffic on the wide boulevard, he said.

A witness, Norman Williams of Venice, said he saw a small ball of fire under one wing of the craft and screamed at the pilot to get out. Anderson, apparently unaware of the fire, was calmly collecting his papers in a briefcase in the cockpit, she said.

Moments later, a Torrance Fire Department truck arrived and doused the flames. Damage to the plane apparently was limited to a bent propeller and scratches on the underside.