Police Save Trapped Pilot With Disaster Barreling Toward Them

Following a plane crash Sunday, Los Angeles police were able to pull the pilot from the crash site just seconds before a train plowed into the wreckage, saving the pilot’s life.

The nail-biting video has gone viral and the police are being called heroes.

Though the train had its horn blasting it could not slow down in time, crashing into the Cessna 172 as the police and the bloodied pilot were barely feet away.

The plane crashed around 2:10 p.m. Sunday, not long after taking off from Whiteman Airport in the San Fernando Valley community of Pacoima, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The timestamp on one of the police officer’s body camera shows the train crashing into the plane at 2:15 p.m. PT.

The plane went down on the tracks of a railroad crossing just blocks from the LAPD’s Foothills Division station, officers were on the scene within minutes.

CBSN Los Angeles said four officers worked together to free the pilot and drag him onto the pavement. The station identified them as Damien Castro, Christopher Aboyte, Robert Sherock, and Sgt. Joseph Cavestany.

Upon reaching the scene authorities realized the plane was on the tracks and there was no time to spare.

“I had requested Metrolink to cease all train activity, but apparently that didn’t happen,” Cavestany said.

The pilot was the only person on board and was taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. No other injuries were reported.

“Seeing what happened, I’m grateful to be alive. I’m grateful the pilot survived as well,” Sherock said.