Pilot in Critical Condition After Plane Crash Lands Upside Down in California

Before firefighters arrived, a group of bystanders rushed to the wreckage and physically lifted the overturned plane to pull the trapped pilot free.

Rudy Blalock

Published: 4/21/2026, 4:20:33 PM EDT

Pilot in Critical Condition After Plane Crash Lands Upside Down in California — A 2017 file image of an emergency sign directing patients to the emergency room at a U.S. hospital. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

A 72-year-old pilot was left in critical condition Monday after his small Cessna plane struck high-voltage power lines in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles. The accident left his plane inverted in the parking lot of an O'Reilly Auto Parts store.

The crash occurred around 11:20 a.m. near Van Nuys Boulevard and Ralston Avenue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The pilot was the only person aboard.

Before firefighters arrived, a group of bystanders rushed to the wreckage and physically lifted the overturned plane to pull the trapped pilot free. Luz Maria Mejia, who witnessed the crash from her vehicle nearby, described the scene to NBC Los Angeles.

"I was turning at San Fernando and Van Nuys, and I seen a plane hit a post right there, right on Sutter and Van Nuys," she told the station. "It lost control so it hit into an O'Reilly's. And when it hit O'Reilly's, all the electrical wires fell to the ground and we weren't able to pass because all the electrical wires were under our tires, basically. That's when we walked over to O'Reilly's and my brother and ten other people helped out to pick up the plane. When we picked up the plane, they took the guy out."

When Los Angeles Fire Department Light Force 89 arrived on scene, they found the pilot already outside the plane—unconscious but alive—the department said in a Facebook post. He was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition. The plane, a severely damaged Cessna Skyhawk, was found upside down and leaking fuel in the parking lot, the department said.

Authorities said the plane allegedly clipped high-voltage power lines before going down, creating serious hazards for both emergency responders and the surrounding community. As a precaution, nearby businesses and residences were evacuated.

Restoring safety to the neighborhood required cooperation across multiple agencies. The LAFD worked alongside the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of Water and Power to contain the fuel leak, address downed lines, and assess the scope of the power outage. Around 100 residential DWP customers lost power as a result, with the outage expected to last up to 24 hours.

LAFD and LAPD personnel went door to door throughout the affected area to check on any residents who rely on electricity for medical equipment. After completing door knocks, no residents requiring electricity for life support were found.

On Sunday, a pilot was killed in a Cessna accident in a Tampa Bay-area neighborhood in Wesley Chapel, Florida. In that case, the twin-engine Cessna 401B went down between homes, damaging at least one residence but sparing people on the ground.