A small plane crash landed on a California freeway then burst into flames, just over a mile from an airport
- A small plane burst into flames after crash landing on a California highway, ABC7 news reported.
- Videos show the plane descending and firefighters dousing the flames. There were no casualties.
Traffic was halted after a small plane crash landed and burst into flames on a California freeway Tuesday.
The single-engine Piper Cherokee caught fire shortly after it came down on the eastbound lane of the 91 Freeway in Corona, California, per ABC7 news.
During its crash landing, the plane may have struck a pickup truck, reported NBC's 4 News, citing the Corona Fire department.
The pilot and copilot managed to escape unharmed, and there were no reported casualties, per ABC7 and NBC's 4 network. Images from the scene show a man, seemingly the pilot, calmly making a phone call close to the crashed plane.
The freeway runs past the Corona Municipal Airport, with the crash occurring just over a mile from the facility. The exact cause of the crash has not yet been determined, per ABC7.
California Highway patrol received calls shortly after 12.30 on Tuesday afternoon, per ABC7 news.
A video posted by ABC, taken from nearby surveillance footage, shows a plane descending towards the freeway before a plume of smoke erupts into the air.
The City of Corona Fire Department later tweeted a video of its Corona Engine 3 arriving at the scene, where firefighters then doused the flames.
Highway Patrol captain Levi Miller told ABC7 that the outcome had been "very fortunate."
"The traffic was light, and the pilot appears to have made some good landing navigations and avoided what could have been a very bad tragedy," Miller said, per the outlet.
It is not unheard of for smaller planes to land on freeways. In 2019, dashcam footage captured the moment a pilot successfully made an emergency landing on a highway in Parkland, Washington.
While always a last resort, and not without hazard, freeways are often preferred to fields because they offer more stable ground, Andrew Treulich, an FAA-certified flight instructor, previously told Business Insider's Tom Pallini.