Flight audio in Pacoima crash raises serious concerns about control tower

Flight audio recordings appear to indicate the air traffic control tower at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima had no power, and that controllers were unaware of a small plane crash that critically injured a 72-year-old pilot. The April 20 incident occurred just after 11 a.m., with video capturing the moment a 2007 Cessna clipped power lines while coming in for a landing at the airport, triggering a massive spark and an upside-down crash landing in a parking lot near San Fernando Road and Van Nuys Boulevard. Good Samaritans who witnessed the crash lifted the wreckage to pull out the pilot, who survived and is said to be in critical condition. In radio transmissions between another pilot and Whiteman’s air traffic control tower obtained by KTLA, a controller appeared to have no idea the plane had crashed. “Do you have info on this?” a pilot can be heard asking the controller, who responded, “No, I don’t. We just see six fire trucks over there.” When the pilot asked if the controller was aware of the crash, she responded, “I’m sorry?” He then informed the tower that it appeared the crash involved a high-wing Cessna 172. “They just extracted the pilot. He’s moving. Looks like the only occupant,” the pilot said. Former KTLA pilot Tim Lynn, who flew out of Whiteman Airport for 16 years, told KTLA's Mary Beth McDade he was surprised the tower was unaware of the crash. “What really stands out to me is that tower controller had no idea she had an airplane involved in an accident,” Lynn said. “They have to stay aware of everything in the air around their airspace.” Lynn said radio traffic captured contact between the tower and the pilot who crashed as the aircraft approached the airport, with the controller confirming the Cessna was fourth in the pattern to land. The tower then shifted its attention to another plane preparing to take off and missed the moment the Cessna clipped the power lines. “It was pretty quick after the accident aircraft checked in and was given permission to land number four and then she became more involved on the ground,” Lynn explained. “Then, never even saw the accident aircraft hit the power lines.” Lynn said he believes the tower lost power after the plane struck the lines. After the crash, the controller can be heard telling pilots she was working without radar and power. “Because I don’t have radar, I’m going to shut the pattern down right now,” she’s heard saying. While Lynn does not believe the tower played a role in the plane hitting the power lines, he said it was concerning that the controller lost awareness of an aircraft so close to the airport. “It’s very concerning because you depend on air traffic control to alert you to other traffic in the area when you’re departing, when you’re arriving, when you’re in the traffic pattern, that no other aircraft is in the area,” he said. Whiteman Airport has faced calls to shut down for several years now after a string of accidents. As for why the Cessna struck the power lines in the first place, officials say the cause remains under investigation.