An 18-year-old pilot and a passenger weren't injured after they were forced to make an emergency landing on the fairway of the 12th hole at a St. Petersburg golf course Saturday afternoon, police said.
The two-seater 1939 Taylor Craft fixed-wing airplane was flying with two other aircraft, and the three planes originated out of Lakeland and were headed to Manatee County, police said.
The pilot began to experience mechanical issues and was advised to divert his flight path and attempt to land at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg. The pilot, however, realized he wasn't going to make it and observed the St. Petersburg County Club in the Lakewood Estates subdivision as a possible landing location.
The plane landed safely on the fairway of the 12th hole of the golf course. While coming to a stop, the left wing of the plane clipped a tree.
The pilot and his teenage passenger weren't injured, police said.
No fuel was leaking from the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board was notified of the landing. The golf course in the area was roped off, police said.
No one on the ground at the golf course was injured in the landing, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue officials.
The pilot said he has been flying for about three years.