According to police, a small plane collided with electricity lines in Maryland, leaving two occupants suspended approximately 100 feet in the air. The collision knocked out power to thousands of residents in the region.
Sunday about 5:40 p.m. local time, a single-engine Mooney M20J collided with wires near Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane was entangled in a web of power lines around 100 feet in the air and appeared to be intact. Pete Piringer, a representative for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, and the FAA reported that there were two individuals aboard the jet.
At approximately 7:50 p.m., Piringer reported that there were no injuries aboard the aircraft. Previously, he stated that they remained in a “very precarious scenario” due to the live wires.
The collision caused “widespread power disruptions” and traffic restrictions in the area, according to officials.
Pepco said that around 85,000 customers were affected by the outage and stated that they are working with authorities to analyze the damage.
The utility company stated, “We have confirmed that a private plane collided with Pepco’s transmission lines in Montgomery County, resulting in an outage for approximately 85,000 customers.” We are examining the damage and collaborating closely with the Montgomery County fire and emergency services.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will examine the crash, with the NTSB overseeing the inquiry and giving updates, according to an FAA statement.
»Small aircraft hits electricity lines, trapping two people«