Fore! Plane lands on St. Pete golf course

ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Pete pilot survived an emergency landing on a golf course Thursday.

William Gibson on his way to St. Pete Beach in a banner plane when the single-engine Bellanca Citabria began having engine problems.

Gibson, 47, decided to return to Albert Whitted Airport, but when it became clear he would not make it, he began looking for a place to land.

That spot ended up being the 12th hole fairway of the St. Petersburg Country Club. He landed safely and managed to avoid the duffers in the tee box, but clipped a palm tree in the process, damaging his right wing.

"You could see the nose was trying to pull up, like he was trying to miss us. That's how close he was," witness Dick Hansen recalled.

Gibson suffered only minor injuries to his hand. He was out of the plane and walking under his own power when emergency crews arrived.

"I thought I was going to die," firefighters quoted him as saying.

The FAA will investigate.