March 5 (UPI) — Five people died after a small airplane crashed near an interstate in Tennessee, authorities said.
Metropolitan Police Nashville said Monday night the small-engine plane crashed off the eastbound lanes of I-40 killing five people onboard.
The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority said it received an alert of a small-engine airplane crashing after dusk about three miles south of John C. Tune Airport. Video taken by motorists near the crash site showed fire where the plane landed.
Don Aaron, the Metro Nashville Police spokesperson, said the plane suffered engine failure shortly before landing in the grassy median on I-40.
He added that the pilot had requested an emergency landing near the airport.
“Approval was given to land on runway 2 at John Tune Airport. But the pilot then radioed that the aircraft was not going to make it,” he said.
Aaron added the plane did not collide with any structures before crash-landing in the field.
The plane had taken off from Mount Sterling, Ky., at 7:19 p.m. EST and had been scheduled to land at John Thune Airport at 7:43 p.m. EST, Nashville International Airport spokesperson Stacey Nickens said.
Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney told reporters that witnesses had described the details of the crash to authorities.
“When that plane did go down, it did, as witnesses described, implode on impact,” she said. “That impact was catastrophic and did not leave any survivors.”
No details on the victims were erased immediately following the crash.
The plane had been registered in July but its owner was also not immediately known.
Loney said heavy flames awaited fire crews at the scene but they were able to put out the fire and keep parts of the scene intact for investigators.
“The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate this aircraft accident after Metro first responders ensure the accident scene is safe,” the Nashville International Airport said Monday night.
