Watch | Pilot pulls off ‘once in a lifetime landing’ on LA golf course: ‘Imagine if we didn’t have cameras’

Footage of the dramatic moment quickly went viral after being posted on X, garnering over two million views. The caption of the post reads, “This happened at Riv today. I pray I’m never this late for a tee time, but I do pray for the means to pull up this way if I was.”

In the video, a stunned onlooker can be heard shouting, “Holy schnikes!” as the plane approaches. A golf cart driver, clearly caught off guard, scrambles to get out of the way, saying, “I’m moving, I’m moving.”

Watch the viral video:

This happened at Riv today. I pray I’m never this late for a tee time, but I do pray for the means to pull up this way if I was 😂 pic.twitter.com/00RzIdMrb8

— Roger Steele (@RogerSteeleJr) May 2, 2025

Commenters on social media were quick to react. A user wrote, “Imagine if we didn’t have cameras, we couldn’t believe this story.”

Another user commented, “if this was a emergency landing or engine out situation, props to the pilot for pulling this off though.”

A third user commented, “What’s the old line, any landing you can walk away from is a good one.” A fourth person said, “Once in a lifetime landing.”

The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed in a statement that both LAFD and Santa Monica fire crews responded to the scene. “LAFD and Santa Monica Fire Department resources responded to a plane (unknown size) which landed safely at Riviera Country Club,” the statement read.

The department confirmed that three people were aboard the aircraft, and all of them walked away unscathed.