A pilot was hoisted to safety by a rescue chopper after putting his plane down in a wash just short of a runway in El Monte.
A pilot aboard a small plane was safe after the aircraft went down in an El Monte riverbed near the airport Thursday afternoon.
The plane went down in the Rio Hondo wash in the 4900 block of Santa Anita Avenue, El Monte police said.
The small craft, identified as a Beechcraft Bonanza BE35, was seen in a riverbed not far from San Gabriel Valley Airport.
The pilot reported the engine had suddenly quit and he was forced to land.
He reported over radio frequency that he was not injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration was to conduct an investigation into the landing, a spokesman said.
