An officer is being praised as a hero after rescuing a pilot from a flaming plane that crashed into a field near a roadway in Santa Barbara, California.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the tiny plane, a Cirrus SR22 carrying two individuals, crashed near Santa Barbara Municipal Airport around 2:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) announced on Facebook that one of its officers, Officer Ayala, witnessed the plane crash while conducting a “traffic stop” on Highway 101. According to CHP, while the plane’s “parachute had deployed,” flames “quickly engulfed the wreckage.”
“Abandoning the stop, Officer Ayala raced to the scene, jumped a chain-link fence and found the injured pilot crawling from the burning aircraft,” reported the Colorado Highway Patrol. “As fire spread, he pulled the pilot to safety just moments before the plane exploded.”
Along with the tweet, CHP published a video of the small plane on fire in the field, as well as other photographs shared on X by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raquel Zick, which show firemen extinguishing the fire and the wide area that remained scorched after it was extinguished.
Zick stated in the post that the incident site was “near” Highway 101, “between Los Carneros and Storke,” and asked the public to “please avoid the area and make way for equipment responding.”
Authorities reported that the plane’s passenger “managed to escape” and that “two civilians” assisted in bringing both the pilot and the passenger to safety. According to CHP, the pilot and passenger were “transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment.”
In a separate post on X, Zick stated that two persons onboard the plane were “transported” to the hospital “with serious injuries.” She also stated that there were “no fatalities on scene.”
Officer Ayala was recognized by the CHP for his efforts to assist the pilot before the aircraft caught fire, saying that because to Ayala’s “bravery and quick action, lives were saved that day.”
“Great job, Officer Ayala!” CHP is added. “Your courage exemplifies what it means to protect and serve your community.”
The FAA stated that it will investigate the event.
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