The prompt response by US cops in Los Angeles, California has saved the life of a pilot in the Pacoima neighbourhood on Sunday.
The policemen extracted the pilot from a crash-landed Cessna aircraft seconds before the plane was slammed by a train, sending debris flying everywhere.
According to local media, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the Pacoima district, and a dramatic video acquired by Reuters shows multiple officers extracting the man from the fallen jet.
When a passing train wrecks the plane, the police and pilot are only a few feet away from the rails.
“The plane had a failed takeoff and landed on the train tracks at a popular intersection,” said Luis Jimenez, the 21-year-old music composer who filmed the video.
“Just seconds before impact, police officers saved the pilot, and a piece of debris almost hit me.”
The pilot was treated for cuts and bruises and is in stable condition, according to local media. No one on the train was injured, local media reported.
Video footage posted on Twitter by the Los Angeles Police Department showed bodycam footage of officers pulling the bleeding pilot from the plane.
The department applauded its officers, saying in the tweet they had “displayed heroism and quick action by saving the life of a pilot who made an emergency landing on the railroad tracks.”
(With inputs from agencies)
