A pilot miraculously survived a plane crash where his Cessna slammed nose-first into the roof of an airplane hangar at the Long Beach Airport on Monday.
The incident happened around 2.20pm in the 2900 block of East Spring Street when dispatch received a call about a plane crash at the airport.
First responders located the Cessna 172 nose down in the top of the building along with the pilot, who was the lone occupant of the vessel.
A representative for the Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings when he unexpectedly went down.
A pilot miraculously survived a plane crash where his Cessna slammed into the roof of an airplane hangar at the Long Beach Airport on Monday
The incident happened around 2.20pm in the 2900 block of East Spring Street when dispatch received a call about a plane crash at the airport
Video of the extent of the damage including the plane’s nose inside of the roof while one wing appears to be severely torn up.
In one clip, firefighters could be seen climbing a ladder to the top of the hangar to investigate and assist in the recovery of the pilot.
According to a representative for the Long Beach Fire Department, the pilot had to be extricated from the Cessna after the crash.
The unidentified man was taken to the hospital for his minor injuries.
Kate Kuykendall, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Airport, told KTLA the crash did not impact any commercial flights in or out of the airport.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
Officials said a preliminary update will be given in the coming days.
Firefighters told ABC 7 that roughly 45 gallons of fuel leaked out after the plane smashed a hole into the hangar.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Photos of the extent of the damage including the plane’s nose inside of the roof while one wing appears to be severely torn up
Read Related Also: This could be Australia's coldest home
According to a representative for the Long Beach Fire Department, the pilot had to be extricated from the Cessna after the crash
The crash comes just days after a Cessna C550 business jet crashed in nearby Riverside County, killing six people.
The plane was just 500ft from a runway and the pilot had warned air traffic control he could not see the landing strip in dense fog.
The jet was attempting to land at around 4.15am on Saturday, July 8, at the French Valley Airport between Los Angeles and San Diego.
After aborting an initial landing attempt, the jet crashed when it missed the runway by around 500 feet and went up in flames.
Everyone on board the plane, which was arriving from Las Vegas, died in the crash, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The pilot was 25-year-old Riese Lenders and on board were two married couples and 31-year-old Lindsey Gleiche of Huntington Beach.
The couples were Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32, and his wife Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33, as well as Ibrahem Razick, 46, and his wife Alma, 51.
The crash comes just days after a Cessna C550 business jet crashed in nearby Riverside County, killing six people. Pictured: The wreckage of a Cessna crash on July 8
The sooty remains of the Cessna Citation jet which had crashed near to French Valley Airport between San Diego and Los Angeles
Shockingly, the crash was not even the first fatal incident involving a Cessna plane at the Spring Valley Airport that week.
On July 3, a single-engine Cessna 172 crashed in the parking lot soon after taking off, killing one of the four people on board.
A fire started by the crash ignited an acre of vegetation before crews put it out.
National Transportation Safety Board said in a press conference held on Saturday that a ‘marine layer’ of fog – common around coastal southern California – had descended upon the runway.
