A small plane made a crash landing and burst into flames on the 91 Freeway in Riverside County Tuesday afternoon in a dramatic incident that was captured on video.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
The crash-landing happened at 12:31 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the freeway near Lincoln Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Dramatic video obtained by KTLA shows the single-engine Piper Cherokee dropping from the sky, hitting the freeway, and then leaving a trail of burning fuel as it slides toward the sound barrier.
“The pilot claims to have experienced possible engine failure on their final descent to Corona Municipal Airport,” CHP Capt. Levi Miller said.
The plane also hit a truck carrying three people.
Incredibly, both the pilot and passenger on the plane and all three occupants of the truck escaped unharmed.
Pilot Andrew Cho described how his single engine plane lost power and he made the decision to put it down between moving cars on the freeway.
“It felt like a hard bump. Hard to describe,” Cho said. “We were four to five feet in the air when the plane stalled completely and fell to the ground.”
The pilot credited his training for the successful crash landing.
“Your training kicks in and you do the right thing. As long as you don’t panic, you get the best outcome,” Cho said.
Eastbound lanes of the 91 Freeway were closed for several hours as authorities investigated the crash and removed the wreckage.
The Federal Aviation Administration is handling the investigation and is expected to speak with Cho soon.
“(We’re) very fortunate today that the traffic was light, and the pilot appears to have made some good landing navigation that avoided what could have been a very bad tragedy,” Miller said.