EL CAJON, Calif. — A small plane crashed Thursday morning near a freeway in El Cajon, injuring the pilot.
The crash was first reported around 10:35 a.m., according to a California Highway Patrol incident log. The aircraft came to rest near Interstate 8 and Greenfield Drive, landing alongside a freeway overpass. The crash site is about five miles east of Gillespie Field, a San Diego County airport.
The pilot of the Cessna 195, a 65-year-old San Diego man, was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital to be treated for major injuries and was expected to survive, CHP Officer Travis Garrow told reporters at the scene. No others were aboard the plane.
The plane hit the hood of a white Hyundai SUV before landing. The driver, an Alpine woman, and her dog were not hurt, Garrow said.
“I was just coming to the freeway and all of a sudden this — I didn’t know what it was — but a plane just kind of hit the front of my car and then crashed,” Carrie Zub told an OnScene photographer at the scene.
“I just immediately was like, oh my god, and then I just pulled to the right and stopped and I’m just so grateful that I’m OK,” Zub added.
The small plane crash was also captured on resident Alfonso Arana’s home surveillance camera.
“You just expect to see planes low because Gillespie Field’s very close, but you don’t ever see them that low and then the angle that he was coming in at, very bizarre, and once you saw him go sideways you knew that there was an issue,” Arana said.
Authorities have closed the 1700 block of Greenfield Drive, police said, asking drivers to avoid the area. I-8 remained open.
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CHP is investigating the crash. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials were also headed to the scene to investigate.
Alcohol or drugs were not considered a factor in the crash at this time, Garrow said.
FOX 5’s Jason Sloss contributed to this story.
