“We all come onto this job to be able to save someone’s life”

A double decker Los Angeles passenger train breezed along the tracks on a sunny January afternoon in 2022. Several hundred yards away, an unscheduled destination came into focus: an island of debris. The wreckage of a small propellor plane had crash-landed squarely on the tracks moments before. Trapped inside, an injured pilot. As the train flew towards it’s unexpecting target, LAPD officer Christopher Aboyte realized he had just moments to act before he watched a civilian die before his eyes.

It may have been by chance that Christopher was one of the responding officers that day, but there was no officer more prepared for such high-pressure scenario.

“I saw a lot of gang crime growing up, and I saw a lot of LAPD officers always in my neighborhood...I always looked up to them, so when it came time to choosing my career, I picked LAPD.” LAPD was the only agency Christopher applied to. For him, a career serving his childhood community wasn’t just an option, it was the option.

On January 9, 2022, his commitment and training was put to the test when Christopher’s Sergeant observed a small plane crash onto local commuter train tracks. Christopher and his team were dispatched to the scene, and during response efforts “there was non-stop communication between all of us.”

“We were just trying to discuss what we were going to do — we were talking about whether we were gonna leave the pilot inside the aircraft or not.”

The window to make a decision closed rapidly when Christopher and his team heard the oncoming train approaching the crash site.

The natural human instinct when a two-story train is barreling directly towards you is to run and run fast. For Christopher, ensuring his personal safety was a luxury he could not afford.

“Once I knew the train was coming I never bothered to look back to see how far it was; I didn’t care. All I knew was my job was to get him out and that was what I was gonna do.”

As the train sped towards the wreckage, Christopher and his team scrambled up to the broken cockpit window. A bloodied pilot gazed up from his seat as shouts between Chris and his team muddied the clear winter air. In the background, the alarm alerting pedestrians of an oncoming train tolled continuously.

“Go go go go go!”

Christopher’s team shouted to one other as the train arrived, smashing into plane and smearing metal into the tracks.

As the train came to a halt, Christopher looked on at the startling scene. Next to him lay the plane’s pilot— alive.

Christopher and his team had saved a life with mere moments to spare.

“My family members were pretty traumatized by the event...they got to see first-hand account of the dangers that we really do face.” For Christopher, the personal risk is worth it to know he can be the difference between live and death for civilians in need.

“A lot of (the) times, we go out, we do the job and we leave. And we don’t know the outcomes.” This call, however, was different. “We got to meet the person that we helped save, and we got to communicate with him...I actually met his wife...It meant a lot to me to be able to speak to his family and know that, you know, we gave them that much more time with their family member.”