A pilot is lucky to be alive after crashing his plane through the roof of a small hangar at 2:18 p.m. local time Monday at California’s Long Beach Airport.
The pilot was practicing taking off and landing solo in the single-engine, four-seat Cessna 172 when the crash happened. The prop job nose-dived into the hangar’s roof, wedging in a hole and sticking tail up out of the hangar.
The Cessna proceeded to leak 45 gallons of fuel, but a fire did not break out. The Long Beach Fire Department cleaned up the leak and left by 3:50 p.m.
The pilot, unidentified by airport authorities and the Long Beach Fire Department, was extricated from the aircraft and hospitalized with minor injuries. The pilot is a man in his 40s, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Commercial operations at the facility were uninterrupted by the crash. The cause is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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