Photo: Twitter / Cole Puente
A WWII-era fighter plane crashed and burned just outside Los Angeles, on the 101 Highway in Agoura Hills. The pilot managed to walk way without injuries, KTLA confirms.
The plane was marked with the Balkenkreuz, a cross-like symbol usually used on Nazi plane, which explains the initial flurry of headlines like “Nazi plane crashes in L.A.” Some media outlets even went as far as to identify it as a Bf-109, which was a fighter plane in the German Luftwaffe.
As it turns out, the plane wasn’t an original Nazi aircraft, though it was vintage, from the World War II era. KTLA tracked it down by the number on the tail to a company called Condor Squadron from Van Nuys, which flies restored WWII aircrafts. The plane is a T-6 Texan from the North American Aviation, modified to look like a Nazi plane for use in air shows and parades.
The owner of the company confirms the plane that went down was theirs, while also confirming the rumor that the incident was due to a malfunction to the aircraft. The pilot was trying to land on the 101 and would have been successful at it, had he not clipped the center divider with one wing. That’s when the bird went down and immediately caught fire, burning to a crisp.
“He heard a couple of loud pops in the engine… He was able to control it and was trying to land on the 101 Freeway but there was a car in front of him,” California Highway Patrol Capt. Johnny Starling tells the media outlet. “So as he landed, touched down, he had to jerk the wheel hard to the left to avoid the vehicle. That’s when he crashed into the center divider.”
The pilot has a 30-year experience in flying commercial planes, and he did right by trying to land on the 101. It’s perfect for emergency situations like this, on the condition that it’s not rush hour.
After firefighters put out the fire, they took the plane apart piece by piece for further investigation. The pilot’s only injury was that he singed his hair from the blaze, and no one else was hurt in the incident.
As it turns out, the plane wasn’t an original Nazi aircraft, though it was vintage, from the World War II era. KTLA tracked it down by the number on the tail to a company called Condor Squadron from Van Nuys, which flies restored WWII aircrafts. The plane is a T-6 Texan from the North American Aviation, modified to look like a Nazi plane for use in air shows and parades.
The owner of the company confirms the plane that went down was theirs, while also confirming the rumor that the incident was due to a malfunction to the aircraft. The pilot was trying to land on the 101 and would have been successful at it, had he not clipped the center divider with one wing. That’s when the bird went down and immediately caught fire, burning to a crisp.
“He heard a couple of loud pops in the engine… He was able to control it and was trying to land on the 101 Freeway but there was a car in front of him,” California Highway Patrol Capt. Johnny Starling tells the media outlet. “So as he landed, touched down, he had to jerk the wheel hard to the left to avoid the vehicle. That’s when he crashed into the center divider.”
The pilot has a 30-year experience in flying commercial planes, and he did right by trying to land on the 101. It’s perfect for emergency situations like this, on the condition that it’s not rush hour.
After firefighters put out the fire, they took the plane apart piece by piece for further investigation. The pilot’s only injury was that he singed his hair from the blaze, and no one else was hurt in the incident.
Video from Sky5 shows the fiery scene of a plane crash on the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills. The pilot was reported uninjured. tp://on.ktla.com/uqAE7 pic.twitter.com/YbXBXizwfn
— KTLA (@KTLA) October 23, 2018
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