The pilot of a small plane averted death twice in under five minutes on Sunday, first when he crash-landed onto railroad tracks, then when Los Angeles police rescued him just before a commuter train smashed into the aircraft. Bodycam video showed the officers working furiously to disentangle the bloodied pilot from the cockpit of the crumpled Cessna 172 before the train demolished the plane.

“Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!” someone yelled as the officers dragged the man away seconds before the Metrolink train, its horn blaring, barrelled through the plane.

The plane crashed shortly after takeoff at 2:10 p.m. from Whiteman Airport in the San Fernando Valley community of Pacoima, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The timestamp on a police officer’s body camera showed that the train hit the plane at 2:15 p.m.

The plane had landed on the tracks at a railroad crossing just blocks from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division station, and officers arrived at the crash scene almost immediately and four officers extricated the pilot and dragged him onto the pavement.

It was unclear how much time passed before authorities realized the plane was on the tracks, or exactly when police notified the railroad, but the officers realized there was no time to spare.

“I had requested Metrolink to cease all train activity, but apparently that didn’t happen,” Sgt. Joseph Cavestany said.

The male pilot was the only person on board and was taken to a hospital for treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. He was not identified and no other injuries were reported.

Watch the video