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<p>A locally based private airplane with three people on board made an emergency landing on a Carlsbad beach early Thursday morning.</p>
<p>The airplane, a single-engine Piper-PA28R-200 Arrow registered to Christopher J. Sluka of San Diego, departed Montgomery Field Airport at 7:31 am and landed on the beach at approximately 7:44 am. All three people on the airplane survived with no major injuries.</p>
<p>It is not clear if the owner was the pilot at the time.</p>
<p>A Christopher J. Sluka is registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an Airline Transport Pilot, the highest rating for pilots who fly commercial flights. </p>
<p>Air traffic control recordings were not immediately available to determine if the pilot made any distress calls before landing on the beach.</p>
<p>The airplane will most likely be removed from the beach by a heavy-lift helicopter.</p>
<p>The National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA will investigate the cause of the accident.</p>
<p>Off airport landings are common when small airplanes, especially single engine ones, experience mechanical issues in flight. </p>
<p>Pilots are trained to look for suitable landing sites in emergencies, including fields, clearings, beaches, highways, and even golf courses, if available.</p>
<p>Beach landings are common, as was the case when a Cessna airplane crash landed on the beach in Santa Monica on December 23, 2022. The passenger in that airplane, 92-year old Rex Minter, former Mayor of Santa Monica, died in that accident. The pilot survived.</p>
