Monday night, a small, one-engine plane, crashed next to Interstate 40 (I-40) near Nashville, Tennessee, in the US. The aircraft burst into flames and the accident killed everyone on board, 3 children and 2 adults.
The plane, a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II registered C-FBWH, had left Ontario, Canada, and made stops in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mount Sterling, Kentucky, “more than likely to pick up gas”, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) air safety investigator Aaron McCarter. Around 7:40 pm local time, after passing over Nashville’s John C. Tune Airport, the pilot contacted air traffic control to report a total engine and power failure.
“Do you still have John Tune Airport in sight?” the air traffic controller asked, according to recordings from LiveATC.net. “My engine shut off. I’m at sixteen hundred [feet]. I’m going to be landing … I don’t know where”, the pilot responded.
But before managing to turn around and make it back to the airport, the plane crashed, about 5 kilometres south of John Tune. According to witness reports, the plane fell down on a grassy area and tumbled before bursting into flames.
That impact was catastrophic and did not leave any survivors.
Kendra Loney, Nashville Fire Department spokesperson
Passerby video of reported small plane crash on the I-40E near Nashville. pic.twitter.com/Z5JzCcE2t2
— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) March 5, 2024
The NTSB has confirmed the passengers were Canadian citizens, but the agency is still working with Canadian authorities to identify the victims.
The Nashville Fire Department confirmed on Tuesday that firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames as to preserve as much evidence at the accident site as possible. Meanwhile, the plane wreckage is being taken to a facility in Springfield, Tennessee, where inspectors will try to determine the cause of the accident, since no issues or mechanical anomalies were reported during the flight before the power failure.
