Small plane crashes into hangar at Long Beach Airport; pilot suffers minor injuries
A small plane crashed into building at Long Beach Airport on Monday, resulting in minor injuries to the pilot.
The aircraft, a single-engine Cessna 172, crashed on top of the hangar at around 2:30 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The FAA says that he pilot, a man in his 40s, was "practicing landings and takeoffs" when the crash happened. He was the only occupant and was able to exit the plane under his own power after the crash. He was hospitalized for evaluation.
With SkyCAL over the scene, the tail of the plane could be seen protruding from the roof of the building as it was partially lodged.
According to Long Beach Fire Department, approximately 45 gallons of fuel leaked from the plane into the hangar. Despite earlier reports, they say that there was "no active fire at any point during the incident."
This is the most recent small aircraft crash to happen in the Southland over the last week, after two different planes crashed near French Valley Airport in Murrieta.
The first crash, which happened on July 4, killed one person, the pilot, and sent three others, his children, to the hospital.
On Saturday, a twin-engine business jet crash landed 500 feet before the runway at French Valley Airport while attempting to land in the midst of a dense marine layer. All six people on board the flight -- which came from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas -- were killed.
