A man in his 20s who was piloting a single-engine plane was airlifted to a trauma center with serious injuries after a fiery crash in Ventura County, authorities said.
The crash east of the Santa Paula airport was reported shortly before 12:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
No passengers were aboard the small plane when it crashed in an industrial area in the city of Santa Paula and sparked a fire, said Andy VanSciver, a firefighter and public information officer for the fire department.
Several businesses are in the area where the plane crashed, but the fire was contained to the plane and no other injuries were reported, VanSciver said.
A photo released by the agency on X shows the plane’s nose and propeller attached to a completely bare chassis, apparently incinerated by the fire. A single wheel is visible near a pile of ash and debris.
Santa Paula Police Chief Don Aguilar told the Times on Sunday that the plane crashed in an open yard, disrupting stacks of pipes laid out there. It came to rest next to a large metal trash can, seen in the photo.
Firefighters who responded to extinguish the fire and treat the patient have left the scene, VanSciver said.
A video released by the agency appears to show the pilot being carried to a waiting helicopter on a stretcher.
The identity and condition of the pilot were not immediately available.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Santa Paula Police Department are on scene investigating, and the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified.
Another small plane made an emergency landing in Ventura County on Saturday, CBS News reported. No injuries were reported in the incident, in which the plane landed in a dry riverbed in Fillmore, the outlet said, and the FAA is also investigating the crash.
