A commuter train passing through Los Angeles’ Pacoima neighborhood collided with a crashed plane resting on the tracks.
The aircraft was struck by the train around 2 p.m. on Jan. 10, just moments after the Los Angeles Police Department removed the pilot from the wreckage. No casualties have been reported as of Jan. 15.
“It happened so fast, we didn’t really have that much time to think,” Officer Damian Castro told CNN. “All I could think was ‘try to get this man to safety.’ I didn’t really want to look back to see how far the train was coming, you could hear it coming.”
The private, single-engine Cessna 172 took off from Pacoima’s own Whiteman Airport, quickly lost power, and crashed onto the tracks.
After the rescue, the pilot was taken to a regional trauma center by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Body camera footage from officers involved show a middle-aged, male pilot, though the individual’s identity or details of his injuries have not yet been released. The pilot complained to authorities of a headache during the rescue, but was otherwise conscious and lucid.
“I’m hopeful that’s all he had,” Aboyte told CNN. “He did have some lacerations on his face but I do not know the extent of those injuries but he was conscious and talking to me and he knew very well where he was and what had happened.”
The crash resulted in a minor fuel spillage, causing traffic and metro restrictions until firefighters contained the spill.
CNN and other news outlets have reached out to Metrolink for updates to the condition of the train’s passengers and crew. No response has been recorded as of Jan. 15.
