A middle school student hospitalized since being struck by a light plane as the pilot made an emergency crash landing at Carlsbad State Beach on the Fourth of July was dubbed "a miracle dude" Monday by his mother.
Nicholas Baer, 12, was enjoying a holiday outing at the seashore with friends when the single-engine Piper PA18 came down at the water's edge just after 3 p.m. Saturday, grazed him and then flipped over nose-first, according to witnesses and California State Parks officials.
The Carlsbad boy was taken to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego for treatment of a gash to his head, a concussion and skull damage. He was underwent surgery and was admitted to an intensive care unit.
Physicians expect Nicholas to fully recover, said neurosurgeon Hal Meltzer, who operated on the boy and said he is listed in good condition.
"He's (having) a fantastic recovery," Meltzer told news crews during a mid-afternoon briefing at the Serra Mesa-area pediatric hospital.
It was unclear what part of the airplane might have hit the boy, though officials believed it could have been the leading edge of one of the wings, Meltzer said.
Nicholas' parents, Bill and Janice Baer, said their son was in good spirits following surgery, though impatient to go home. He seemed most bothered by the fact that nurses had shaved his head, his mother said.
"He was so mad about his bald head," she told reporters, adding that several of his friends razored off all their hair in a show of solidarity.
The couple, who were at their nearby home when the accident occurred, described their confusion and dread when they initially got word of what had happened. A friend telephoned to say she'd heard that Nicholas had been hit by the propeller of a plane that crashed on the beach.
Janice Baer, who took the call, frantically woke her husband from a nap and did her best to fill him in on the situation as they hurried to the beach. He said that when his wife told him their son "was involved in a plane accident, it was like, `Are you sure you got that right?"'
The couple made it to the site of the crash in time to ride with Nicholas to the hospital in an ambulance.
The parents noted how incredibly fortunate Nicholas had been to avoid much more serious injuries after winding up in the path of a hurtling earthbound airplane. "So I think he's a miracle dude," his mother said.
The 23-year-old pilot was uninjured. He told investigators the aircraft, which he was operating on behalf of an El Cajon company named Air Ads Inc., lost power for unknown reasons while towing an advertising banner over the coastline.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
