Watch: Police save crashed pilot seconds before train ploughs into plane

10 January 2022, 08:53 | Updated: 10 January 2022, 10:24

Dramatic footage shows the moment a pilot is hauled out of a light aircraft that crashed on rail tracks before a train ploughs through it.

Brave Los Angeles police officers hauled the bloodied pilot out of the plane after he had to make an emergency landing.

They managed to pull him away just moments before an oncoming train speeds into it, ramming into the aircraft and sending it hurtling down the tracks.

The locomotive's horn is heard blaring just before the crush, as officers yell "go, go, go!", dragging the pilot by his torso.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Twitter said: "Foothill Division Officers displayed heroism and quick action by saving the life of a pilot who made an emergency landing on the railroad tracks at San Fernando Rd. and Osborne St., just before an oncoming train collided with the aircraft."

Another LAPD account said the plane lost power and the pilot crashed onto the tracks.

The scene is near Whiteman airport, north of North Hollywood.

Read more: Nine children among 19 killed in apartment blaze in New York

Reports say the pilot was taken to a regional trauma centre but the extent of his injuries was unknown.

He was the only person on board the single-engine Cessna 172, and nobody on the ground was hurt in the incident, according to NBC Los Angeles.

An investigation into the crash will be launched.