---
title: "Plane Crash on California Street Caught on Security Camera"
description: "Single-engine prop plane takes out passing car along the way."
date: "2016-02-24"
modified: "2016-02-24"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/2318/plane-crash-on-california-street-caught-on-security-camera"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "airplanes"
  - "Aviation"
  - "California"
  - "crashes"
---

# Plane Crash on California Street Caught on Security Camera

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/022416-plane-crash-street-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

In one of those moments that no amount of defensive driving tests can prepare you for, [a driver in Pacoima, California found himself unexpectedly sideswiped by a single-engined propeller plane when it crashed onto the street on February 22](<https://ktla.com/2016/02/22/plane-crashes-on-street-outside-whiteman-airport-in-pacoima/>).

Remarkably, no one was injured in the crash, although five cars and the plane were banged up. The plane, identified by CNN as [a Mooney M20J](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooney_M20>) from Oregon, came down not far outside Whiteman Airport; passers-by claimed they heard the plane’s engine struggling as it descended, suggesting that it may have suffered engine failure.

“He did a great job,” [witness and KTLA pilot Tim Lynn told CNN, referring to the pilot’s controlled crash landing in the intersection](<https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/02/23/small-plane-street-crash-landing-caught-on-camera-pkg.ktla/video/playlists/planes-near-miss/>). Lynn said he saw the plane dodge trees and houses as it came down, before finally landing on the wide roadway. “I give him a lot of credit for what he did here. He picked the best spot he could \[have\] possibly picked.”

This isn’t the first plane crash in the area’s history. Last January, [another single-engined plane crashed on a roadway outside nearby Van Nuys Airport, killing the sole occupant](<https://ktla.com/2015/01/09/small-plane-crashes-near-van-nuys-airport/>). And back in 1957, [a Douglas DC-7B collided with a USAF Northrop F-89B Scorpion in the skies over Pacoima](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_Pacoima_mid-air_collision>), sending the burning carcass of the DC-7 into the Pacoima Junior High School playground; seven people were killed and 75 more injured.

(Strange historical trivia: It was that very plane crash that gave [Richie Valens](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Valens>), a student at Pacoima Junior High at the time, his fear of flying. Valens, of course, overcame his fear to pursue his musical career...[only to die in a plane crash alongside Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper in 1959](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died>).)

In light of that, the loss of one ([non-Paul](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mooney_(comedian)>)) Mooney doesn’t seem so bad. Still, it kind of hurts to watch this footage. It’s a pretty plane.

https://youtube.com/embed/hX_0Waxs-5E

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)