Dockweiler State Beach

Dockweiler State Beach is a beach in Los Angeles, California, with 3.75mi of shoreline and a hang gliding practice and training area. Although a unit of the California state park system, it is managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. Part of the park is located directly under the flight path of the adjacent Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The 91acre property was established in 1948. Originally part of Venice-Hyperion Beach State Park, it was renamed in honor of prominent early Angeleno Isidore B. Dockweiler in 1955.LocationDockweiler State Beach is in the Playa del Rey neighborhood at the western terminus of Imperial Highway. Between the beach and the airport lies the ghost town of Palisades del Rey.In August 2000 parkgoers witnessed smoke and flames shooting out of a Boeing 747's engine and metal parts as large as a dishwasher landing on the beach. The KLM flight bound for Amsterdam had just taken off from LAX and suffered a possible bird strike in one of its four jet engines. The aircraft was able to circle and land again without injury to the 429 people aboard.