ASHVILLE, NC – A single-engine Diamond DA-40 aircraft crash-landed onto Interstate 26 near Asheville Regional Airport, North Carolina around 8:15 p.m. Thursday, as per the information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration. This happened after the plane’s contact with power lines crossing I-26, leading to an immediate burst into flames when a wing collided with a tractor-trailer. This collision was detailed by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol on WLOS-TV.
The two passengers aboard were able to escape the burning wreckage and were taken to the local hospital with severe injuries that were not life-threatening. No one else incurred any harm, including the truck driver.
The pilot, through radio, had communicated a potential engine failure, “Mayday! Mayday! We’re losing all engine power”. He had informed them that their best glide wouldn’t be sufficient to make it and later reported about restarting the engine and having it operate at half power, with smoke filling inside the plane.
Subsequently, he had to land the plane onto the interstate. According to FlightAware, the plane had departed from Myrtle Beach International Airport at 1:51 p.m., landing in Knoxville, Tennessee before the crash.
Since the aircraft was owned by LIFT Academy, the plane’s crash is now under investigation by both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board to ascertain its root cause.