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NEED TO KNOW
- A woman was injured after being hit by a small plane making an emergency landing in Heartwell Park in Long Beach, California at around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21
- Both she and the pilot, described as an “elderly” man by the Long Beach Fire Department, were taken to the hospital to be treated for “moderate” injuries
- An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the crash landing
A plane making an emergency landing on a soccer field left two people hospitalized.
On Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Long Beach Fire Department confirmed in a Facebook post that a woman in her 40s and the “elderly” male pilot had been taken to the hospital following the incident, which occurred at Heartwell Park around 4:00 p.m.
Authorities said the small plane was “on its belly with broken landing gears” when they arrived at the scene.
“The plane’s fuselage was intact. When the plane landed, it collided with a pedestrian in the park,” the statement continued. “Units assisted with removing the pilot, an elderly male, from the airplane and transported him via paramedics to a local area hospital.”
Long Beach Fire Department
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Both he and the pedestrian were described as being in “moderate, but stable condition.”
“The good news is it could have been a whole lot worse,” Mayor Rex Richardson said at a City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, according to Long Beach Post. “And we are fortunate in that there have been no fatalities, no serious injuries. It was a glider [that] did an emergency landing, pretty rough landing on the field at Heartwell Park.”
Citing flight data, the outlet reported that the aircraft took off from Compton/Woodley Airport in the morning and landed at French Valley Airport in Murrieta, Calif. That afternoon, the pilot took off around 3:40 p.m. The crash landing occurred roughly 20 minutes later.
He reportedly told authorities that he was returning to Compton/Woodley Airport, which is roughly 15 miles from the park.
Heartwell Park is used for weeknight youth sports and features multiple courts and arenas, per Long Beach’s website. The plane reportedly landed on a soccer field located beside two softball fields.
Long Beach Fire Department
Photos published by Long Beach Post show that soccer practice continued following the incident. Young children were photographed playing on a field with the plane in the background. It was surrounded by police tape.
The investigation remains ongoing. In their statement, the Long Beach Fire Department reported that the Long Beach Police Department assisted with securing the crash.