A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a pilot just moments before a small aircraft was engulfed in flames following a crash near U.S. 101 on Jan. 29, authorities said.
Officer Ayala—no first name was provided—was conducting a routine traffic stop on Los Carneros Road, north of U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara County, when he spotted a deployed aircraft parachute and heard an explosion, the CHP said in a Jan. 30 social media post.
