PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. -- A 17-year-old walked away without a scratch after making an emergency plane landing on a Peachtree City golf course.
Sierra Lund was in the process of completing a solo flight as part of her flight training when the engine of the Cessna 150 went out.
“My engine sputtered a little bit and then it just quit,” Lund said.
She was 400 hundred feet off the ground over a lake.
“I can't stall the air plane and I can't turn back around and I didn't want to go swimming so I decided the golf course was the best choice to land as safely as possible,” she said.
PHOTOS: Teen makes emergency landing at local golf course
The teen was able to land the single-engine plane near the tee box for hole 11 at Planterra Golf Club.
The first call she made was to her father, Kevin Lund.
“My heart immediately sank. I just saw her fly by,” Kevin Lund said.
Kevin Lund is an aircraft mechanic by trade.
“It was definitely a catastrophic engine failure, internal engine failure,” he said. “Most pilots will never experience that in their career.”
The next call Sierra made was to her mother.
"I was calm until I saw the plane and then it hit me that my worst nightmare just happened,” Steph Lund said.
The Lunds credit her flight instructor, Delta pilot Doug Halburg, for helping her master landing the plane with the power off and knowing to always looks for a safe place to crash in case of an emergency. And the proud parents are in awe of their baby girl.
“It’s amazing, I'm amazed,” Kevin Lund said. “I'll sit in the back seat of her plane any day.”
The 17-year-old said the experience has frightened her. She’s looking forward to her next flight, and is hoping to have her pilot’s license within the next month.
The FAA expects to complete a report into the crash within the next few weeks.
