Several killed after plane crash lands on motorway
Everyone on board was killed in the crash.
This is the harrowing moment a plane crashed into a fireball on a motorway in Nashville, Tennessee.
Footage from CCTV cameras shows the single-engine aircraft plummeting to the ground just off of Interstate 40 in the western part of the city.
Emergency services rushed to the scene – behind a Costco – but nothing could be done to save those on board.
Authorities have confirmed that everyone died, but the exact number of casualties is yet to be determined until the wreckage can be fully searched.
‘A single-engine airplane has crashed off the eastbound lanes of I-40 just past the Charlotte (Pike) exit,’ the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a post on X.
‘Several persons on board are deceased. Work continues to determine from where the plane originated.’
The pilot made an emergency call to John C. Tune Airport at 7.40 pm, reporting engine trouble and was given clearance to make an emergency landing, Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said.
A short time later the pilot radioed that the aircraft would not reach the airport.
The plane burst into flames when it crashed in a grassy median just off Interstate 40 and behind a Costco on the city’s westside.
The crash scene was about 3 miles south of the general aviation airport.
‘It appears that everyone on board perished,’ Aaron said.
The exact number of victims was not immediately known, he said. Authorities also were working to determine from where the plane originated.
There were no injuries to drivers on the interstate, Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said.
Authorities said no vehicles or buildings on the ground were damaged.
Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell paid respects to the victims in a post on X: ‘Our thoughts go out to the loved ones of all those on board the single-engine aircraft that crashed near Interstate 40 this evening.
‘I want to thank the Metro emergency responders who were on site quickly and extinguished the fire.’
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