A Bombardier Challenger 600 series jet crashes on Interstate 75 in Florida, USA.
A commercial airliner crash-landed on a busy highway in the US state of Florida, colliding with two vehicles on the ground and causing a fire that killed two people, authorities and witnesses said.
Just before a jet with five people on board crashed into a highway on Friday, the pilot calmly told airport controllers that both engines had failed and he was “not going to enter the runway.”
The jet attempted to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75 on its way to the Naples airport, but witnesses said the plane's wings dragged the car and it crashed into a wall, colliding with the vehicle. An explosion then occurred, causing flames and black smoke to rise from the scene.
Two people were killed, the Collier County Sheriff's Office said, but it was not immediately clear whether the victims were passengers on the plane or on the ground.
Federal authorities began investigating the crash near Naples, just north of the interstate heading east toward Fort Lauderdale along a road known as Alligator Alley.
The plane took off from Ohio State University's airport in Columbus, Ohio, around 1 p.m. The plane was scheduled to land in Naples at the time of the crash when the pilot called the tower requesting an emergency landing, said Robin King, a spokeswoman for the Naples Airport Authority.
“Okay. Emergency. Landing cleared. Runway. 2. 3,” an air traffic controller told the pilot in an audio obtained by The Associated Press.
“We can land, but we're not going to reach the runway. Both engines have failed,” the pilot calmly replied.
“The wing shattered the car.”
Contact with the tower was lost, and airport officials saw smoke coming from the interstate just a few miles away, King said.
King said a fire engine filled with special foam was dispatched to the scene and three of the five people on board were extracted alive from the wreckage.
Brianna Walker saw the plane's wing drag the car in front of her and slam into a wall.
“It was only a few seconds that separated us from the car in front of us,” she said. “The wing shattered this one car.”
Walker and a friend spotted the plane just before it hit the highway, and the friend was able to stop the car before it crashed.
“The plane was inches above our heads,” she said. “I made a sudden right turn and crossed the highway.''
The plane was operated by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Charter, according to FlightAware aircraft tracking equipment. The plane was scheduled to return to Fort Lauderdale on Friday afternoon.
Federal authorities said a preliminary report on the cause of the crash was expected within 30 days.
