As the plane was approaching the airport, about a half mile from the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area crash site in Sherman Oaks, a distress signal was sent out, saying they could not make the airport.

The pilot and passenger of the Cessna aircraft got out before firefighters arrived and declined to be taken to a hospital.

A small plane crashed in Sherman Oaks Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The aircraft, reported to be a Cessna, landed upside down on a flat dirt area near the Sepulveda basin. The crash happened on the 15000 block of Burbank Boulevard.

A Cessna aircraft made an emergency landing and flipped upside down, with both people on board safely exiting the plane.