The 70-year-old pilot miraculously survived the crash but is in critical condition.

A small California airport plagued by safety concerns was the stage of a shocking crash involving a low-flying light plane attempting to land before hitting power lines and crashing down.

The New York Post reported:

“Terrifying footage has emerged of the plane careening into utility poles along Van Nuys Boulevard just blocks from the Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, leaving the 70-year-old male pilot hospitalized in critical condition.

In video posted Tuesday on X, the plane was seen flying close to the power lines when it clipped them, flipping over and nosediving into the ground.”

Plane crash in Pacoima, California on April 20, 2026.

A 72-year-old pilot was at the controls when the aircraft went down. He survived the crash but was rushed to hospital in critical condition.

Fortunately, no one on the ground was injured. pic.twitter.com/wdvsIXSoaY

— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) April 22, 2026

“LAFD said the plane, a single-engine Cessna owned by Vista Aviation and rented by the pilot, was doing patterns around the airport when it hit the power lines, eventually crashing into a parking lot at an O’Reilly’s auto shop. It had only been in the air for about 10 minutes. The pilot was found outside the plane.

A bystander who helped the pilot told KTLA that ‘half his body was crushed from the plane’.”

Watch: people manage to pull the pilot out of the plane. 

Witnesses managed to pull the pilot to safety after his small plane crashed into power lines in Pacoima, neighborhood in Los Angeles https://t.co/uXBUtqBGhb pic.twitter.com/w5CEg0CgQJ

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) April 22, 2026

The plane crash knocked out power to some parts of the city, with crews working to restore it.

Residents have been trying to close the Whiteman airport for his ‘highly urbanized’ location.

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the plane crash.

Watch: similar Pacoima crash from 2020.

CRASH INTO NEIGHBORHOOD: The pilot of a small plane is dead after it crashed just feet from the airport in Pacoima, California, slamming into several parked cars and bursting into flames in front of a home. @DavidMuir reports. https://t.co/HFE41af2CL pic.twitter.com/mdVdaPIRyc

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) November 13, 2020

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The post SHOCK VIDEO: Small Plane Hits Powerlines, Flips and Crashes to the Ground in California appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.