Small plane with 2 aboard crash-lands on Santa Monica beach

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A small plane crash-landed and flipped upside down on the beach in Santa Monica on Thursday and two people were removed from the aircraft, authorities said.

The single-engine Cessna had taken off from nearby Santa Monica Airport en route to Malibu when, according to a flight recording, the pilot reported engine troubleand tried to return to the airport but then decided to make an emergency landing, KCBS-TV reported.

In a recording played on KTTV-TV, air traffic control warns the pilot that “landing on the beach will be at your own risk.”

“I wish I had another choice,” the pilot replied.

Video showed the plane descending for a beach landing shortly after 3 p.m. but hitting the water at the shoreline and flipping over south of the Santa Monica Pier.

Firefighters removed two people from the plane, one of them in cardiac arrest, authorities said. They were taken to the hospital but there was no immediate word on their conditions.