11 July 2023 , 07:16
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A pilot had a lucky escape after crashing his plane nose first into an airport hangar.
Following reports of a crash at Long Beach Airport, California, emergency services rushed to find the small four-seat Cessna 17 crashed nose down on top of the building.
Miraculously the pilot, who was the only person in the plane at the time, escaped uninjured.
The incident was first called in at around 2.20pm on Monday July 10.
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot was practising takeoffs and landings when he unexpectedly went down.
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Pictures from the scene show the nose of the plane completely crumpled and one of the wings torn off.
The plane wreck standing upright on the hangar roof (AP)Firefighters told ABC 7 that around 45 gallons of fuel leaked out of the wreckage and a hole was smashed into the hangar.
Firefighters were seen climbing up to the top of the hangar to investigate and help the pilot.
The pilot had to be extracted from the twisted wreckage, a representative for the Long Beach Fire Department said.
The man was taken to hospital and was treated for minor injuries.
Kate Kuykendall, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Airport, told KTLA the crash did not affect any commercial flights in or out of the airport.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have launched an investigation.
A preliminary update will be given in the coming days.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Twisted remnants of the plane crashed into the hangar (AP)This comes just days after a crash in Murrieta, California, left six dead.
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The plane, a Cessna C550 business jet, burst into flames upon impact on July 8, leaving behind a charred and smoking fuselage near French Valley Airport.
Authorities named the victims as the pilots, Riese Lenders, 25, of Rancho Palos Verdes, and 32-year-old Manuel Vargas-Regalado of Temecula, as well as his wife, 33-year-old Abigail Tellez-Vargas.
Ibrahem Razick, 46, who goes by Abe, and 51-year-old Alma Razick of Temecula and Lindsey Gleiche, 31, of Huntington Beach, were also killed.
Authorities named the victims as the pilots, Riese Lenders, 25, of Rancho Palos Verdes, and 32-year-old Manuel Vargas-Regalado of Temecula, as well as his wife, 33-year-old Abigail Tellez-Vargas.
Ibrahem Razick, 46, who goes by Abe, and 51-year-old Alma Razick of Temecula and Lindsey Gleiche, 31, of Huntington Beach, were also killed.
Friends and family remembered Riese Lenders, the 26-year-old pilot, and expressed their grief over the loss.
One social media post read, "RIP Riese Lenders, we were just getting going young blood! You went out this morning doing what you loved, and truly mad you stoked daily. You will be remembered as my friend, my pilot, and one hell of a great man!"