E-Paper
Pacoima plane crash videos: Scary footage from Van Nuys captures tragic San Fernando Valley accident; watch
A small plane crashed in San Fernando Valley near Pacoima and Van Nuys, hitting a parking lot, downing power lines and bursting into flames.
A small plane crashed near the Pacoima and Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley region on Monday afternoon. The airplane went down in the parking lot of a store, pulling down power wires, and immediately erupting into flames after the plane crash.
NBC 7 Los Angeles reported that the aircraft was a 2007 Cessna 172S Skyhawk. The pilot inside the plane was rescued with injuries but spoke to first responders and is believed to be stable.
Here's a video of the incident shared on the Citizen app:
The NBC report noted that the aircraft was registered to a local flight school.
The store in question belongs to O'Reilly Auto Parts on the intersection of Ralston Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard. But the crashed airplane did not hit any cars, the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed.
Here's another video of the crash shared by KTLA:
Pilot Critically Injured
A spokesperson for LAFD told KTLA5 that the pilot was found unconscious and is believed to be in a "critical condition" A video shortly after the crash showed that the pilot was pulled out by local residents. MyNewsLA reports that the patient is a 65-year-old man.
The aircraft had left the Whiteman Airport in LA, which many residents are urging to be closed.
Pacoima is a neighborhood in the northeastern San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.
