2024-02-10 11:19:49
Two people died when a small plane attempted to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75 in the southwestern part of the US state of Florida, the Associated Press reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States reported that it was a Bombardier 600 Challenger plane and specified that there were a total of five people on board when it tried to make the dangerous landing yesterday afternoon local time.
The plane took off from an airport in Ohio and was scheduled to land in Naples, Florida sometime around the time of the crash.
The pilot received permission to land on the runway, but replied that the plane would not be able to reach it. “Both of our engines are out,” he is heard saying on a recording of the conversation, cited by the local Naples Daily News.
The control tower lost contact with the plane, and airport workers saw smoke billowing from the highway just a few miles away, an FAA official said. According to him, fire brigades were sent to the scene, and three of the five people on board were taken alive from the wreckage of the plane.
The local sheriff’s office confirmed that two people died, but it is not yet clear whether the victims were people from the plane or were on the ground when it crashed, BTA reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the US National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, with the board leading the investigation.
The southbound lane of the freeway remained closed for the night.