210 Freeway Sylmar plane crash death of Pilot John King – obituary
Authorities recognized the pilot of a tiny aircraft who perished in a collision beside the westbound 210 Freeway in Sylmar on Friday. According to the coroner’s office, John King, 62, was pronounced dead at the site of the incident, which occurred at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, 2022.
According to FAA spokesperson Eva Lee Ngai, King was the sole passenger onboard the jet. According to records, the plane was manufactured in 1965 and had a valid flight certificate at the time.
The plane landed in the middle of trees on a motorway embankment and did not collide with any automobiles. The accident did not cause any fires and just missed a series of power wires on the opposite side of the road.
“It’s a good thing it wasn’t on the 210 Freeway, because things would’ve certainly been a lot worse,” said Los Angeles Police Department Captain James Townsend.
“We didn’t acquire any indication suggesting the electrical lines were involved in the jet accident,” LAFD Deputy Chief Trevor Richmond stated. “There was no fire, only a little gasoline leak that was controlled by fire resources.”
He went on to say that the workmen built a small barrier in the immediate vicinity of the leak to keep water from pouring onto the freeway.
The disaster happened about four miles north of Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, where the plane took off at 12:20 p.m. and crashed eight minutes later.