1 Killed In Fiery Pacoima Plane Crash

PACOIMA, CA — A small plane crashed in Pacoima Thursday morning, killing one person and triggering a fire near Whiteman Airport in Pacoima.

The crash happened at about 11:45 a.m. on Pierce Street near Sutter Avenue in front of three residential buildings. The plane erupted on fire upon impact, and the blaze spread to two vehicles parked on the street.

The pilot was apparently landing when something went wrong. The plane was approaching the runway west of the airport when it crashed mere yards from the start of the runway, according to video footage from the scene. The pilot managed to narrowly miss several apartment buildings. According to ABC7, the pilot was the lone death in the crash.

Ian Gregor of the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane crashed in a residential area while on its final approach to Runway 12, coming down in front of three residential buildings. Two vehicles parked on the street also caught fire.

"Firefighters extinguished the flames engulfing at least two vehicles and the wreckage after (the) small aircraft went down in a residential area," the LAFD said in a statement. "The fire spread to trees and vegetation in front of a residential home, but firefighters navigated downed power lines and protected the home from sustaining any structural fire damage."

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City News Service contributed to this report.