Dramatic video shows the moment Los Angeles police officers pulled a pilot from a plane crash, seconds before a commuter train smashed into the downed aircraft Sunday afternoon.
The video, captured on a bodycam, shows officers working furiously to remove the bloodied pilot from the cockpit of the crumpled Cessna 172.
“Go, go go!” one of the officers shouts, as others drag the pilot from the wreckage.
A moment later, a double-decker Metrolink train smashes into the aircraft.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Whiteman Airport in the San Fernando Valley. It landed on the train-tracks at a railroad crossing.
Luckily, there was a LAPD detachment just a block away.
“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,” the LAPD account tweeted.
The Associated Press reports that the pilot was the sole person on board the plane and was transported to hospital in unknown condition. No one else was hurt.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating what caused the plane to crash.
— With a file from the Associated Press