Small Plane Crashes Into Pick-Up Truck On California Highway, Bursts Into Flames

A small plane burst into flames after it crash landed on a pick-up truck on a California highway Tuesday. All the persons involved in the crash managed to escape unharmed.

The incident took place along the eastbound lanes at Lincoln Avenue on 91 Freeway in Corona. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the site at around 12:30 p.m. ET after multiple reports about the crash.

Corona is located in Riverside County, which is about 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

There were two people on the plane and three in the truck, all of whom were lucky to have walked away unscathed, CHP officials told ABC 7.

The plane was set to land at Corona Municipal Airport when it reportedly suffered an engine failure, which led to the crash. However, the exact cause of the crash wasn't determined.

The Federal Aviation Administration is working to find out the real cause of the crash.

A video obtained by ABC7 showed the single-engine Piper Cherokee making a nosedive during a busy traffic situation and bursting into flames, with thick plumes of smoke filling the air. Firefighters at the scene managed to douse the flames quickly.

The CHP told CBS Los Angeles the plane struck only the pickup truck on the road. There was no word on additional injuries on the ground.

Authorities said the situation could have been much worse if the crash occurred during rush hours.

"Absolutely very fortunate today. The traffic was light, and the pilot appears to have made some good landing navigations and avoided what could have been a very bad tragedy," Levi Miller, CHP captain, told ABC 7.

In a similar incident in February, the pilot of a twin-engine plane died after the aircraft crashed into a tractor-trailer in North Carolina. Officials said the plane may have faced a mechanical issue before coming down on the Freightliner 18–wheeler truck. The pilot, identified as 43-year-old Raymond John Ackley, a decorated Army Reservist from Charlotte, suffered fatal injuries in the crash. The truck driver, 41-year-old Barrin Lamont Davis, was rushed to the hospital with minor injuries.