Teen Pilot Ready to Fly Again After Saving Family But His Grandma Isn't: 'She Thought That Might Have Been It'
The California teenager who safely landed a malfunctioning plane just months after receiving his pilot's license is ready to fly again.
Brock Peters, 18, was flying over a mountain pass in a single-engine plane on Monday morning when he was forced to make an emergency landing on a nearby roadway.
The newly licensed pilot tells PEOPLE he was going to breakfast with his grandmother and cousins when the plane's engine lost power mid-flight, forcing him to lean on his training to bring it safely to the ground.
Despite the harrowing ordeal, Peters says he is eager to resume flying as soon as possible. "I can fly right now, I'm ready to go," he says, adding that his dad is on the same page.
But not everybody in his family feels the same way.
"My mom, she wants me to wait a couple days," he says, adding that she "knows I'm going to get back in the plane no matter what."
As for his grandmother, who had flown with him a number of times prior to this week, the teen says she isn't ready to join him just yet. "She's having a really tough time with it, which is understandable," Peters says. "She thought that might have been it."
Courtesy of Brock Peters and Felipe Quiroga Brock Peters and cousin Felipe Quiroga
Peters has loved flying since childhood. He took his first flying lesson at age 16, got his license four months ago in September, and now flies at least once a week.
"This has always been my passion and my dream," he tells PEOPLE.
On Monday, the teen was flying from Apple Valley to Riverside Municipal Airport with his grandmother and two cousins, who were visiting from out of town. "My grandma wanted to take them as a treat to breakfast," he says. "Just so they can have that experience while they were visiting."
"We do that all the time with my family," he says, explaining that "there's nothing really up around Apple Valley, everything is down the hill."
But about halfway through the ride, things took a scary turn.
"When I heard the boom I was surprised. And then I heard the engine power go down immediately after that," Peters recalls.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The teen quickly pulled out his emergency checklist, only to realize the plane would not restart. That's when his emergency training kicked in.
Although his cousins were shaking and his grandmother was in tears, Peters knew he had to stay focused.
"I tuned everybody out," Peters says. "It was just me in the plane just getting it down to the ground, making sure everybody's going to be safe and okay."
As the plane descended, he attempted to contact Ontario International's Tower, but could not get through. He then called his mom using the plane's hands-free Bluetooth system and asked her to seek help.
"The whole conversation was 10 seconds at most," Peters says. "Probably not even that."
Courtesy of Brock Peters and Felipe Quiroga
Since the teen is familiar with the area where he crashed, he used that knowledge to scout out the best place to land. "I know that those fields and everything else was rocks and trees," he recalls thinking to himself, "and if I land there I'm going to seriously injure ourselves and the plane is going to be completely torn up."
That's when Peters spotted a nearby road. Only two cars traveling on the street at the time.
"I had my landing point identified and I'm like, 'I have to land there because if I land any later I'm going to go over this hill and if I land before, there's a curb,' " Peters remembers thinking.
As he was about 10 feet above the straightaway, relief began to wash over Peters as he realized, "Okay, we're going to be okay."
Once on the ground, one of the teen's cousins called his mom to let her know that they had landed safely. Members of their family arrived at the scene a short time later.
It's still unclear why the plane's engine failed during Monday's flight, although it appears to be some kind of internal failure, Peters says.
Courtesy of Brock Peters and Felipe Quiroga Brock Peters
The teen believes his ability to remain calm and recall his training helped lead to a happy ending.
"I'm just grateful for God and having his helping hand help me through this and putting me on the ground safely," he says.
RELATED: Officials Say It's an 'Absolute Miracle' All 4 People Survived Tesla's Plunge Over Calif. Cliff
His advice to pilots who may face a similar situation in-flight is to "stay calm" and "remember your training."
"You've just got to stay focused," Peters says.
