It was a scary scene at a busy California park. Nearly two weeks after a plane went down at Huntington Beach, a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a soccer field.
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According to the Long Beach Fire Department in a Facebook post, the startling incident happened on October 21. Authorities confirmed that the pilot and a woman in her 40s had to be taken to the hospital after bringing the plane down.
The incident happened at the busy Heartwell Park. During the emergency landing, the plane suffered “broken landing gears.”
“The plane’s fuselage was intact. When the plane landed, it collided with a pedestrian in the park,” the statement read. “Units assisted with removing the pilot, an elderly male, from the airplane and transported him via paramedics to a local area hospital.”
Plane Crash
Both those involved are in “moderate, but stable condition.”
“The good news is it could have been a whole lot worse,” Mayor Rex Richardson after the crash. “And we are fortunate in that there have been no fatalities, no serious injuries. It was a glider [that] did an emergency landing, pretty rough landing on the field at Heartwell Park.”
According to flight data, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff. It took off French Valley Airport in Murrieta, Calif. 20 minutes later, the plane crashed on its way to Compton/Woodley Airport, about 15 miles from the park.
Instead, it crashed into a soccer field.
The Fire Department wrote, “Long Beach PD is assisting with securing the scene. Preliminary information indicates the plane originated from Compton and headed to French Valley and was returning to Compton when the incident occurred. The investigation is ongoing. As further updates are available, they will be shared on our social media channels.”
As the Mayor mentioned above, this could have been a lot worse. Fortunately, no one died or suffered significant life-altering injuries. At this time, the cause of the crash is unknown. But authorities are working to determine what happened.