On the morning of March 22nd, a small plane crashed on the West side of 120th Street after departing from Hawthorne Airport.

The pilot was immediately helped out of the aircraft after the plane erupted into flames. She was later identified at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center as Erin Storm, a 41-year-old experienced pilot.  

According to The Los Angeles Times, the XT-912 ultralight plane took off from the airport, but quickly lost control and crashed into the side of the street. This ultralight plane can also be explained as a motorized hand glider. According to eyewitness reports, as soon as the aircraft touched the ground, it burst into flames.

A key eyewitness named Byron Mayes, who works close to where the crash site, says that he witnessed the moment the plane crashed: “It looked like the plane veered up, lost control and hit a couple feet away from the truck, a couple

feet away from us.” He also stated what happened when the plane hit the ground: “As soon as the plane hit the curb, it blew up and it just kept getting bigger and bigger…eventually the engine blew and the fire got even bigger.” Mayes also said that after the fire had died down a bit, he and his co-workers helped the pilot out of the plane. The pilot was found unconscious and her legs in critical condition as the fire damaged them. Storm was then taken to the hospital, where she later died of burn injuries.

However, Erin Storm wasn’t just a pilot, she was a contestant on the popular television show the “Bachelor.” She appeared on the 12th season of the show, which aired in 2008. Even though she was eliminated from the competition, she was still recognized by the representatives of the show, who made a statement regarding her death: “Once a member of the ‘Bachelor’ family, always a member of the ‘Bachelor’ family. It is a tragedy that Erin is no longer with us, and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to her family and friends.”

One of HMSA’s students was actually at the time of the accident. Junior Tanya Garcia was “down in the metro station” when she saw the smoke in the air. She says that she was “scared and worried for the pilot and anybody surrounded by the accident.”

Erin Storm will be remembered by us all. May she rest in peace.