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Police Pull Man from Plane Crash on Train Tracks Before Train Strikes

Screen Shot 2022-01-11 at 10.48.18 AM
Still-shot of bodycam footage. | Image from LAPD footage

Around 2:09 p.m. on Sunday, Los Angeles Police rushed to rescue a man from a plane that had crashed onto train tracks, just before it was hit by an oncoming train.

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the accident occurred near the tracks in Pacoima, close to the Whiteman Airport. The plane took off from the airport, crashing shortly after.

LAPD Officer Damien Castro and other officers had to act fast. “Training and experience kicked in. The adrenaline helped. When things like that happen, you just go and do it. You don’t really have time to think,” said Castro.

Police bodycam footage shows officers removing the pilot from the plane wreckage and hurriedly pulling the man away from the tracks to safety.

Officer Robert Sherock recalled the incident saying, “By the time we got him out… four to five seconds passed as the train basically disintegrated the plane right on the tracks and kept going right through.”

Afterward, trains were temporarily restricted from moving in the area, and the lanes on San Fernando Road and Osbourne Street were closed while officials worked to clear the scene and clean a minor fuel spill.

Sherock made a light joke and said, “I think this guy needs to buy a lottery ticket because he pretty much cheated death twice within 10 minutes.”

The man’s identity has yet to be released. He was transported to the hospital and his condition remains unknown.

The pilot was the only person aboard the small single-engine plane. No one else was injured in the crash.

An ongoing investigation is underway by the Federal Aviation Association and National Transportation Safety Board.

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