(KTLA) – A small plane made what investigators are calling a forced landing and burst into flames in southern California Tuesday afternoon in a dramatic incident that was captured on video.
The landing happened at 12:31 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the 91 Freeway in Corona, about 20 miles east of Anaheim, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Dramatic video obtained by Nexstar’s 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 in the truck escaped unharmed.
“(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.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which is now on the scene, says this was a forced landing.
Eastbound lanes of the 91 Freeway were closed for several hours as authorities investigated the crash and removed the wreckage.