Aircraft slides off runway at Whiteman Airport after touchdown gear fails

Firefighters responded to a small airplane crash on the Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, a wreck brought on by defective touchdown gear throughout the plane, airport officers mentioned.

Firefighters responded to a solo crash of a Cessna airplane simply after 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Based mostly on preliminary studies of the incident, the pilot and sole passenger within the plane safely landed on the runway however the touchdown gear didn’t deploy correctly, the Whiteman Airport Coalition mentioned in an announcement.

The airplane continued past the runway space, handed by way of a fringe fence and got here to relaxation in a car parking zone on airport property, in line with the coalition.

It’s unclear if the airplane crashed into any automobiles or the rest within the car parking zone.

“The solo passenger/pilot has been extricated and is receiving medical evaluation,” in line with a Los Angeles Hearth Division incident alert.

5 gallons of gasoline leaked from the plane, however the leak was contained and there’s no energetic fireplace.

Officers mentioned the pilot was injured however didn’t disclose the extent of their accidents.

“Fortunately, nobody else was injured,” the airport coalition’s assertion mentioned. “Most significantly, the incident remained fully on airport grounds and posed no hazard to surrounding neighborhoods or close by residents.”

“This morning’s airplane crash at Whiteman Airport reminds us of the definition of madness — doing the identical factor again and again and anticipating a special outcome,” mentioned Los Angeles Metropolis Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, whose district contains Pacoima, in an announcement.

“It’s shameful that the County has taken no significant motion to guard our neighborhood after these repeated accidents which threaten our neighborhood’s security,” the assertion mentioned.

The Whiteman Airport has been a trigger for concern amongst neighborhood activists and residents in surrounding neighborhoods who’ve referred to as on the ability to close down.

The final incident occurred in April when neighborhood members helped raise up a single-engine airplane and pull the pilot from the wreckage after it crashed the other way up and into the car parking zone of an auto elements retailer lower than two miles from its departure location, the Whiteman Airport.

A sequence of accidents prompted the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to look into closing the airport.

In 2022 an single-engine Cessna emergency landed on the Metrolink tracks close to San Fernando and Osborne streets; police needed to shortly extract the pilot as a Metrolink prepare barreled towards the wreckage.

That April, a pilot died after a Cessna crashed alongside the 210 Freeway in Sylmar after taking off from Whiteman Airport.

Beforehand, in November 2020, a Cessna crashed in a residential space close to the airport’s runway, killing a Civil Air Patrol pilot.

Earlier this 12 months, federal aviation authorities warned the county that the land bought with federal funds carried an obligation that included working the property as an airport except the FAA formally launched it.

“I’ll proceed to observe this example intently and proceed to battle for accountability and the security of Pacoima residents,” Rodriguez’s assertion learn.

Employees writers Ruben Vives and Clara Harter contributed to this report.