Two injured after plane crashes onto California soccer field

A flight instructor and student sustained serious injuries after a single-engine plane suffered a possible engine failure and crashed onto a San Pedro soccer field during an apparent emergency landing attempt on Monday, Sept. 25, authorities said.

The Sling 4 TSI plane crashed on the Field of Dreams, a Los Angeles city park site on the 400 block of West Westmont Drive, west of the 110 Freeway, just before 1 p.m., said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart.

The aircraft had taken off from Torrance and while making its return, the engine failed, according to air traffic control radio messages from the pilot obtained by CBS Los Angeles. A second Sling plane flying in the area reported the crash to air traffic control.

The pilot was still inside the plane when firefighters arrived and had to be extricated, while the sole passenger was able to pull themself from the wreckage.

Both were taken to a hospital in critical condition, Stewart said.

It was not immediately clear who was flying the plane or what led to the crash, though authorities believe the pilot was trying to intentionally come down in the open field.

“This was the ideal place that they could have landed,” LAFD Captain Adam Vangerpen said in an interview with CBS Los Angeles. “Because there’s other large streets they could have landed on and it looks like they chose this location for the safe landing area.”

The plane did not catch fire as a result of the crash and no other injuries were reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.