A small plane has crashed on a Dutch highway, killing the pilot and closing the road in both directions. According to authorities, the pilot was the only person on board the aircraft, a two-seater Aquila AT01-100A, and no other casualties have been reported at the time of writing.
The incident occurred near Ruchpen at 12.35 pm on 31 July, in the southern Netherlands, on the A58, “from Breda in the direction of Roosendaal”, according to the Mid-West Brabant region’s safety website.
“Fireball and then smoke”
Social media carried images and footage of the aftermath, revealing first responders in action and the plane’s burnt shell and wreckage strewn over a large area of the usually busy motorway. Witnesses told Omroep Brabant, the aircraft went down at the Hoeven/Sint-Willebrord exit and then caught fire, with a column of smoke marking the spot.
“I saw something turn and go down. It looks like a small plane, I thought. When it fell, I suddenly saw a fireball and then smoke,” one witness told the network.
— kryppepe (@PhilipVerd12408) July 31, 2024
Training and utility two-seater
Described by the manufacturer as an “efficient training and utility aircraft”, the German-made Aquila is a model that was the subject of an Aviation Safety Network report in the UK, in September 2023, after a heavy landing at Teesside Airport, caused by the craft “running roughly and the pilot could not set the power to idle for landing. The approach speed was higher than normal.”
#Breaking an Aquila A211 light aircraft crashed in
— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) July 31, 2024
N. Brabant (Netherlands). Pilot perished. Accident occurred as plane was performing touch and go´s at Breda Int. Airport, North of S. Willebrord. Aircraft went down on Highway 58. Airplane was registered as "PH-BAG" and was… pic.twitter.com/5h4GqyQqDG
Road closures and diversions
Nearby Breda Airport has not issued a statement at the time of writing, but it is likely that the accident could cause disruption. Those on their way to Breda are being diverted from De Stok junction onto the A17 and A16. Those bound for Bergen op Zoom are being directed to the Princeville junction via the A16 and A17.
The most notorious air crash in the Netherlands is perhaps the 1992 Bijlmer Disaster in which an Israeli El Al Boeing suffered dual engine separation due to defective fuse pins that caused a series of safety incidents between the end of the sixties and the nineties. The pilot lost control and crashed into an apartment block in Amsterdam, killing all four passengers and at least 39 people on the ground. The exact fatality figure is not known due to a number of undocumented migrants in the building.
