The pilot who crash-landed in the parking lot of a Pacoima auto parts store in the late morning of April 20 is reportedly recovering at a local hospital in critical condition.
Those at the scene found it astounding that he didn’t die upon impact as the small Cessna hit high-voltage power lines and flipped over, crash landing upside down. Good Samaritans pulled the man from the wreckage as fuel spilled from the plane. The man was bloodied and unconscious.
The Whiteman Airport Coalition, launched two months ago by residents, pilots, business owners and other stakeholders to combat the “misinformation” against Whiteman Airport, was quick to respond. The pilot had departed from Whiteman and was attempting to return to the airport to land.
The coalition has maintained that the airport handles approximately 80,000 to millions of takeoffs and landings over time and has cited all the benefits it brings to the community, including functioning as a staging area for last year’s wildfires, which prevented the fires from merging.
FAA Investigation Underway
“The accident rate is extremely low relative to the level of activity. Every incident should be taken seriously. But it must be understood in context, not used to support claims not backed by data,” the statement from the Whiteman Coalition read.
More details about the pilot and his flight as of press time could not be disclosed due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); the name of the pilot, who is reportedly around 70 years old, is still unknown.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) registry, the aircraft was a single-engine Cessna that was owned by Vista Aviation, the largest business operating at Whiteman. Through flight tracking data recorded by FlightAware, the plane had departed from Whiteman at 10:59 a.m. and was in the air for less than 10 minutes before it crashed.
The FAA is currently investigating the cause of the crash.
Witnessing the Crash
It has been confirmed by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) that at approximately 11:08 a.m., the plane descending towards Whiteman first struck a utility pole and clipped a high-voltage power line near the intersection of Ralston Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard. It crash-landed upside down in the parking lot of an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store.
Gustavo Franco was one of the witnesses to the accident. He was driving his truck on Van Nuys Boulevard to get his motorcycle fixed at a shop across the street from O’Reilly’s when live power lines came down directly on his truck as a result of the accident. Both he and his passenger quickly jumped out of the vehicle and were uninjured.
Franco then began to take footage of the crash. The video showed a crowd of about 20 people rushing to the site to lift the plane enough to pull the pilot out of the aircraft, which appeared to be leaking fuel onto the ground. The man was unconscious and bleeding, but was breathing.
The video taken by Franco that documented the community response, including the pilot being pulled out, was posted on the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol Facebook page. Many of the comments praised the actions of Pacoima’s good Samaritans and their efforts to rescue the man. Others, however, were critical of their decision, arguing that they may have hurt the pilot even further by pulling him out and that they shouldn’t have moved him and waited until emergency medical teams arrived.
LAFD closed off the area to the public to mitigate the risk of electrocution. The pilot was transported to a local area hospital.
Firefighters remained on standby in case the aircraft caught on fire, but LAFD Public Information Officer Milo Cope said they were able to shut off the plane’s fuel and there was no odor of fuel in the area.
Repair workers from the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) also dispatched to the scene shut off power to the area around 12 p.m. as they began their repairs, leaving many in the community without electricity. As of press time, repair crews are still at the scene, but power has been restored to residents.
Future of Whiteman Again in Question
This latest accident has reignited the debate about the future of Whiteman and whether it should be shut down. Nonprofits like Pacoima Beautiful and local politicians – including LA City Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Imelda Padilla, LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and State Sen. Caroline Menjivar – have led the charge for its closure, alleging the airport poses an environmental and safety risk to the community.
The airport has been no stranger to crashes in the past. In 2022, there were two such incidents: one in January when a plane landed onto the train tracks just outside the airport and was struck by a Metrolink train just minutes later, with the pilot being pulled out with just seconds to spare, and another that, like this most recent crash, also occurred on April 20, when the pilot fatally crashed into an embankment alongside the westbound Foothill Freeway in Sylmar.
Local residents are continuing to weigh in on the debate on the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol’s Facebook page, with some expressing concern over the potential danger of living near the airport. One resident claimed these accidents happen “every couple of months.” Another local resident who said he lives near the O’Reilly store disputed this, as he could only recall two accidents in the 10 years he’s lived there.
Rodriguez put out a statement immediately following Monday’s accident, stating, “Today’s plane crash near Whiteman Airport is yet another tragedy for our Pacoima community. My thoughts are with those impacted and the incredible community members and first responders who acted in the immediate aftermath.
“Since 2020, I have called for the closure of Whiteman Airport due to repeated plane crashes. This county-owned airport is poorly managed and continues to place serious health and safety threats on the Pacoima community. It’s time for the county to step up and make meaningful changes.”
The Whiteman Airport Coalition’s statement said: “Facts matter.” Their statement points to the lack of support by LA County for federal funding.
“Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who has called for the closure of Whiteman Airport since 2020, reiterated her position that the airport is ‘poorly managed’ and called for ‘meaningful changes.’
“On one point, we agree. But accountability matters.
“Whiteman Airport is owned and operated by Los Angeles County. The LA County Board of Supervisors controls this airport. If management is failing, that responsibility rests with the county.
“In recent years, Los Angeles County has not advanced any major FAA-funded capital improvement projects at Whiteman.
“This is not due to a lack of funding. FAA resources are available for safety, infrastructure, and modernization, but the County must actively pursue them. The FAA does not initiate these projects.
“Supervisor Lindsay Horvath froze funding for this airport years ago.
“If conditions at Whiteman are deteriorating, that is the result of a policy decision not to invest in a federally obligated asset. The issue is not whether improvements are possible. It is why the County is not pursuing them.”
The Whiteman Airport Coalition held a meeting just five days before the crash to talk about Whiteman’s economic and community benefits.
Earlier this year, the FAA issued a letter that said Whiteman can’t be closed unless it has been released by the administration.
Editor Diana Martinez contributed to this article.