By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics
A small plane missed the Whiteman Airport runway Monday, crashing into a Pacoima parking lot and leaving its 70-year-old pilot in critical condition — the latest incident to fuel calls for closing the controversial county-owned airfield.
A 2007 Cessna 172S Skyhawk owned by Vista Aviation, a flight school operating at Whiteman Airport, went down at 11:08 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, crashing into the parking lot of an O’Reilly Auto Parts store on Van Nuys Boulevard and knocking out power across a wide swath of the community.
The LA County Department of Public Works confirmed the aircraft was returning to Whiteman Airport when it went down. The pilot, who was renting the plane, was the only person on board.
As many as 20 bystanders who witnessed the crash ran toward the wreckage and pulled the unconscious and bloodied pilot to safety.
LAFD Public Information Officer Milo Cope praised the bystanders as “good samaritans,” but said when emergency crews arrived, it was necessary to clear everyone away from leaking fuel and downed power lines rated at up to 35,000 volts. Crews covered an apparent fuel spill with hazmat-response gravel. Nearby homes and businesses were evacuated as a precaution.
The crash immediately drew reaction from Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez (D-Pacoima, Sylmar, Sun Valley, Shadow Hills, Lake View Terrace, Sunland-Tujunga), who has called for the airport’s closure since 2020.
“This LA County-owned airport is poorly managed and continues to place serious health and safety threats on the Pacoima community,” Rodriguez said. “It’s time for the county to step up and make meaningful changes.”
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath (D-West Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Hollywood Hills, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, Reseda, Canoga Park, Pacoima) said her office was coordinating with Rodriguez’s office, LA County Public Works, and LADWP to address the outages and called on Public Works to provide updates to affected residents.
Monday’s crash is the latest in a string of incidents tied to the airfield. In 2022, the county Board of Supervisors voted to explore the process involved in seeking a closure of Whiteman Airport following two crashes that year — one that killed a Civil Air Patrol pilot and another in January in which a plane landed on train tracks and was struck by a Metrolink train. The FAA is investigating Monday’s crash.
The Whiteman Airport Coalition, which supports keeping the airfield open, expressed concern for the pilot while defending the airport’s safety record.
“Events like this are taken very seriously,” the coalition told multiple media outlets in a statement. “Whiteman Airport operates under strict federal safety standards, with rigorous requirements for pilot training, aircraft maintenance, and flight operations. It’s also important to understand that having a controlled, professionally managed airport helps reduce risk and protect the surrounding community.”
The coalition also argued the airport serves a critical public safety function, saying it supports “emergency response, law enforcement, wildfire operations, and workforce training.”
The emergency helicopter operations associated with Whiteman Airport are housed not at the airport itself but at Barton Heliport — a separately designated FAA facility located at 12605 Osborne Street on the southeast corner of the Whiteman Airport property.
Barton Heliport carries its own FAA identifier (KPAI), sits on approximately 5.3 acres with a single concrete helipad, and has been operational since April 1978. It houses up to 10 aircraft including Sikorsky S-70 helicopters used for regional firefighting, rescue, and emergency response.
Because Barton Heliport carries its own independent FAA designation, it could theoretically continue operating — and potentially expand into a portion of the 170-acre Whiteman Airport property — were the airfield to close.
Proponents for closing the airport could not be reached at post time.
