Pilot who allegedly stole small plane arrested after emergency landing on Half Moon Bay beach
HALF MOON BAY -- Authorities identified a 50-year-old Florida man who is suspected of stealing a small plane from Palo Alto Airport on Thursday, ditching it on a beach near Half Moon Bay and walking away.
Luiz Gustavo Aires, of Miami, reportedly landed the plane just south of Poplar Beach about 5 p.m., the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said.
When deputies arrived, the plane was intact and unoccupied.
On 2/8/2024 at approx. 5 pm, a small airplane landed on a beach in Half Moon Bay. The investigation revealed the plane had been stolen from a Palo Alto Airport and an arrest was made shortly after the plane landed on the beach. Click the link for further https://t.co/iwKdu6Zybw pic.twitter.com/nFTMN6f9Nz
— San Mateo County Sheriff's Office (@SMCSheriff) February 9, 2024
A short time later, a man matching Aires' description was taken into custody in Half Moon Bay. The sheriff's office is working with Palo Alto police on the theft and recovery of the plane.
Aires was booked into the main jail in Redwood City on suspicion of theft of an airplane.
As of 9 p.m. the plane was still on the beach.
The incident comes just weeks after a deadly plane crash into Half Moon Bay last month. People reported a plane flying erratically over the water east of the Moss Beach Distillery that crashed into the ocean on January 15.
The San Mateo County Coroner's Office identified one of the four people who were in the plane as 27-year-old Emma Pearl Willmer-Shiles of San Francisco a few days later.
So far, three bodies have been recovered near the site of that crash.
CBS News Bay Area's Dave Pehling contributed to this report