Among the frost delay’s redeeming qualities–a few more minutes of clubhouse warmth, a chance for the sun to creep higher in the sky—let’s also not forget: reduced risk of being decapitated by a landing airplane.
No joke, this was the reason an emergency landing at Paramus (N.J.) Golf Course on Sunday fortunately did not result in any golfer injuries. The small plane operated by Manhattan science teacher Jonas De Leon abruptly needed open space for a landing, and it targeted the ninth fairway of the Paramus course (which borders the Ridgewood Country Club, host of last year’s Northern Trust on the PGA Tour). The fact that only 18 golfers were on the course, and all of them in the early stages of the front nine, was because play had been delayed that morning because of frost.
FacebookPinterestGolfers were playing the first few holes on Sunday when the plane landed on the ninth fairway.
“Normally we are packed on a weekend,” Ron Dorrell, a cashier at the course, told the New York Times. “But luckily, because of the frost, we didn’t have anyone out there on the back nine, so none of our golfers were injured.”
According to reports, three of the four passengers on the plane sustained minor injuries. Nine holes of the golf course, meanwhile, remained open after the landing.