ARUM CHEATS DEATH FIGHT PROMOTER SURVIVES AFTER JET CRASH LANDS.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Assistant Sports Editor 

BIG BEAR - Boxing promoter Bob Arum narrowly avoided death when he escaped from a burning private jet after it crash landed Tuesday morning in Big Bear.

The Cessna Citation 550 twin-engine jet apparently overshot the runway at the mountain resort's small airport, plowed through a fence, barely avoided a moving car and stopped in a dry pond with its wings ablaze.

The cabin quickly filled with smoke, but Arum and six others escaped through the door without serious injury and ran from the scene.

Moments later, the jet burst into flames.

``We're all very lucky people,'' said Arum, 70, who had flown in from Las Vegas for a news conference at Oscar De La Hoya's training camp to promote his fight with Fernando Vargas on Sept. 14.

``If you saw the plane, you'd know how lucky. That we all got out alive is a miracle.''

On the jet with Arum were Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino executives H.C. Rowe and Scott Voeller and Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters Kevin Iole and Royce Feour.

The names of the pilot and co-pilot were not released by authorities.

Shaken by the mishap, Feour blacked out and was taken by ambulance to Big Bear Community Hospital but was immediately released. Others, including Arum, complained of bumps and bruises but no significant injuries.

``I bumped my head (on the overhead compartment) when the plane bounced and my neck hurts a little, but that's it,'' Iole said.

Arum and the others didn't know their lives were in jeopardy until the jet hit the ground violently but knew what to do to survive.

When the jet stopped, Arum yelled, ``Open the f---ing door.'' One by one, the passengers, surrounded by smoke, jumped a few feet from the burning jet after the co-pilot opened the door and they all ran to safety.

They then watched as all but the cockpit was gutted.

``I had to get out through a wall of flames surrounding the door,'' Arum said. ``I just ran through the damn thing. ... I figured the worst thing would be my clothes would catch on fire and I'd have to roll on the ground.

``... I never panicked, I never doubted I'd get out alive.''

Arum, the most successful promoter in the sport with the possible exception of Don King, is recognized as having done a brilliant job of guiding De La Hoya's lucrative career the past decade.

De La Hoya was relieved Arum escaped unharmed.

``Bob has nine lives,'' the fighter said. ``He just keeps going. ... He's just a great man. To still do this (the press event) and enjoy it. The guy's plane burned down and he's smiling, laughing, joking about it.

``That shows you what kind of man he is.''

Indeed, after he arrived at De La Hoya's training camp, Arum was almost giddy about cheating death.

He told one gullible reporter over the phone that he had staged the crash landing to help promote the long-awaited fight between Los Angeles-area rivals and laughed heartily about it afterward. And he continued to make light of the incident throughout the afternoon.

``Nothing could prevent me from coming up here to promote Oscar's fight,'' he said with a smile, ``not even a plane crash.''

However, it was clear that Arum knew he was extremely fortunate.

La Opinion reporter Ramiro Gonzalez and a photographer, with whom Arum is acquainted, happened to be on the scene immediately after the crash landing. He described what he saw.

``(Arum) had tears in his eyes and his lips, they were very, very dry,'' Gonzalez said. ``And when he saw us, he gave us both big, big hugs. This wasn't a joking thing, this was a miracle.

``He told me, 'Now I really believe in God.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ARUM

(2 -- color) As firefighters extinguish the burning wreckage of a Cessna Citation, boxing promoter Bob Arum (second from right) and other survivors talk with a deputy.

Richard Gutierrez/Associated Press

(3 -- color) Bob Arum is interviewed by a firefighter after his charter plane crash landed Tuesday morning in Big Bear.

Jorge Garcia/Associated Press