Plane crashes on Meridian Golf Course

Pilot and passenger walk away after plane flips

By Jim Bebbington

The pilot and a passenger of a small Cessna aircraft walked away from a crash Wednesday when the plane landed on the Meridian Golf Club golf course and flipped onto its top after taking off from Centennial Airport.

The course is immediately south of the main runway of the Centennial Airport, which is just north of the course on the other side of E-470.

The South Metro Fire District released a statement on social media that “(The) Cessna 172 had just departed runway 17R crashing on the 7th tee box at Meridian Golf Course, both parties on board walked away, one person with minor injuries refused transport, one person with no injuries.”

The crash occurred around 10 a.m.  

Meridian Golf Club is a private club and photos of the scene posted by rescue crews showed golfers appear to be continuing play.

Head Professional Dave Lopez said they closed three holes for a few hours, but were back to normal operations quickly. Golfers were on the tee box at the time of the crash, Lopez said.

“It scared them,” he said.

Being at the end of a runway, the course has seen crashes before, Lopez said. A similar crash occurred last October, with no injuries then either, and they’ve had five over the past 30 years, Lopez said.