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Plane accident on the highway: wreckage of the Bombardier Challenger 600 lies on Interstate 75
Photo: Andrew West / AP
Two people were killed when a private jet made an emergency landing on a highway in the US state of Florida. The Bombardier Challenger 600 aircraft with five people on board crashed onto the Interstate 75 highway near the city of Naples on Friday afternoon, as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced in the short message service X, formerly Twitter.
The plane, which took off from the state of Ohio, had actually intended to land at Naples Airport on Florida's west coast. Two minutes before the planned landing, the pilot reported to air traffic controllers that both engines had failed and asked for permission to make an emergency landing, airport spokesman Robin King said. The pilot then explained that he would not make it to the runway - "and attempted to land on I-75."
According to initial reports, three people on board the plane survived the emergency landing and two others died when the plane hit. Collier County Sheriff's Office spokesman Adam Fisher confirmed two deaths, according to an AP report. But he said he didn't know whether the victims were passengers on the plane or on the ground.
AP relies on descriptions from Brianna Walker, who was driving with her boyfriend on I-75 at the time of the accident. She saw the plane's wing dragging the car in front of her and crashing into a wall.
"It was only seconds that separated us from the car in front of us," she said. "The wing pulverized that one car." The plane was only a few centimeters above their heads, Walker said. “It made a hard right turn and skidded across the highway.”
Local media showed videos of the private jet engulfed in flames on the side of the highway and thick black smoke. The authorities began the investigation.
hen/AFP/AP