PACOIMA, California — On Sunday, Jan. 9, police officers rescued a pilot from a small plane that had crashed on train tracks near Whiteman Airport, just moments before a train plowed into the wreckage.
According to theLos Angeles Daily News, the small plane crashed near the intersection of Osborne Street and San Fernando Road around 2:09 p.m. The plane was partially in the line of a Metrolink locomotive, which collided with the plane's tail end at full speed.
According to fire department personnel, the pilot was the plane's sole occupant. He was awake and able to communicate to those who came to his aid, despite a gash on his skull.
Two policemen are seen carrying him out of the cockpit on bodycam footage. "Go! go! go!" they yell as they pull him away from the crash, just seconds before the train plows into it.
Foothill Division Officers displayed heroism and quick action by saving the life of a pilot who made an emergency landing on the railroad tracks at San Fernando Rd. and Osborne St., just before an oncoming train collided with the aircraft. pic.twitter.com/DDxtGGIIMo
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) January 10, 2022
The pilot was flown to the hospital. No one was harmed on the ground or among the 66 passengers on Metrolink train 266, according to the news outlet.