A small tourist plane overturned for unknown reasons on the runway of John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. The accident occurred around 2.40pm last Saturday, November 7, in the area of the airport reserved for private flights. On board the aircraft, a Cessna 172, there were a flight instructor and a student: both escaped the cockpit unharmed.
The dynamics and causes
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the causes of the episode. According to an initial reconstruction, the firefighters were told of an aircraft stopped on the stand overwhelmed by strong gusts of wind.
However, the flight school that owns the plane, the Orange County Flight Center, claims that the Cessna was hit by the jet of air from a Boeing 737 cleared for take-off just as the small aircraft was entering the taxiway.
“We were scared. We were definitely scared,” said Kunal Gawli, the student pilot aboard the Cessna with instructor Jason Ryu. “We were wondering, ‘What’s going on?’ As soon as we started to turn left to enter the parking lot,” Gawli said, “we felt a sudden strong draft. At that moment, we completely lost control and the plane started to tip over.”
A Cessna aircraft flipped over after being struck by a jet blast from a departing airline aircraft at John Wayne Airport on Saturday, according to a statement from Orange County Flight Center.
A flight instructor and student were on board at the time of the accident. No injuries were reported.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 9, 2026
According to the flight school, the renovation work underway at the airport is creating operational criticalities with potential consequences for safety. However, the airport management and the local authorities have not confirmed the hypothesis of the movement of air caused by a plane taking off.