Pilot makes heroic crash landing onto California highway before plane erupts into flames

The heart-pounding moment a small plane crashed into a motorway in California has been caught on film, and you’ll want to buckle up for this one.

Thankfully, no one was injured, which is something of a miracle considering the aircraft was burnt to a crisp and also slammed into a truck. 

The aircraft crashed into a freeway in Riverside County after the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure. Watch the footage below:

Two people were onboard the aircraft and there were three people inside the truck the plane hit.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) told KTLA that the aircraft was cruising towards Corona Municipal Airport, with CHP captain Levi Miller explaining: “[We’re] very fortunate today that the traffic was light, and the pilot appears to have made some good landing navigation that avoided what could have been a very bad tragedy.”

The Corona Fire Department also released video of the incident, with footage showing the aircraft engulfed by flames as smoke poured from it. Another photo released by the CFP revealed the plane had been burnt to a crisp. 

Corona Fire Department

Needless to say, social media users were shocked by the footage, with one person responding to the video by saying: “Heck no, that's some Final Destination scene.”

Another added: “Wow that’s nutty!” while a third penned: “Crazy!”

UNILAD has approached the California Highway Patrol for further comment. 

It comes two months after similarly nerve-wracking footage of a crash landing at Miami International Airport was captured back in June.

More than 100 people were onboard the Red Air flight that arrived from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, into the US, and the aircraft was seen skidding along the tarmac on its belly before ripping through a communications tower.

Corona Fire Department

Eventually, the plane came to a stop on a patch of grass, and shortly afterwards three people were taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Paola Garcia, who was travelling on the flight, told CBS Miami: “I thought I was going to die, actually. There was an old man next to me and I was hugging him. It was horrible.

“We were bumping from side to side and all the windows, like, break and then everything's fine. Then the people start running and running and I, like, jump and start running because there was fire and all that.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident occurred after the jet's landing gear collapsed.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected] 

• Shocking twist in case of Delta pilot arrested moments after landing plane
• Sacred temple bursts into flames after tourist makes devastating mistake
• Chilling details emerge as plane owned by renowned chemist disappears minutes before planned landing
• American Airlines plane bursts into flames forcing passengers onto aircraft wing