An American plane carrying two people got stuck in power lines in Maryland on the evening of November 27, causing widespread power outages around the area.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said that a single-engine plane departing from White Plains, New York, crashed into power lines near Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg at about 5:40 p.m. on November 27. There were two people on the plane at the time of the incident.
Pete Piringer – chief spokesman for Montgomery County Fire & Rescue – informed that the people on the plane were identified by Maryland State Police as pilot Patrick Merkle, 65 years old, of Washington D.C and passenger Jan Williams , 66, of Louisiana. The two people on board were uninjured and rescuers contacted them.
Montgomery County Police Chief Scott Goldstein said the fire department will use a truck or crane to stabilize the plane and then take the two trapped people down.
The US Federal Aviation Administration identified the crashed plane as a Mooney M20J. Photo: Montgomery County Fire & Rescue
The US Federal Aviation Administration identified the crashed plane as a Mooney M20J.
The plane was stuck about 30 meters above the ground and other power lines still had power, complicating rescue efforts.
Energy company Pepco announced that about 80,000 customers were without power in Montgomery County. Many traffic lights were also turned off in the area.
The accident occurred in Gaithersburg, a city of 69,000 people, about 39km northwest of Washington, D.C.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The US Federal Aviation Administration and the US National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident.
