By SDCN Editor
La Mesa, CA–A pilot and his passenger suffered minor injuries after their plane crashed in a parking lot at the back of a church, went through the chain link fence of the elevated parking lot, and moved downhill Sunday in East County, authorities said.
Heartland Fire and Rescue crews were dispatched around 3:07 p.m. to a plane crash at the Lake Murray Community Church at 5777 Lake Murray Blvd. in La Mesa.
When fire crews arrived on the scene, an American Medical Response ambulance was passing the location at the time of the crash. They reported that two men who were in the plane had exited the plane.
One person was able to walk, with assistance, up the hill to a waiting ambulance. The second person was unable to walk and was taken back uphill by fire crews with a stretcher using a rope and pulley system. Both victims, around 50 years old, were taken to Sharp Grossmont Hospital with moderate injuries. No other injuries were reported.
Gillespie Field was made aware of the crash, and La Mesa Police Department notified the National Transportation Safety Board.