This happened a few miles from my abode around 5:30 PM last night:
The pilot and passenger aboard a small airplane that crashed into power lines in Maryland on Sunday evening have been rescued.
The pair suffered “serious injuries,” including hypothermia and “orthopedic and trauma issues from the crash,” said Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein in his latest update.
Both have been transferred to local area trauma centers.
The accident occurred near Montgomery Village, Maryland, around 5:30 p.m., about 25 miles from Washington D.C., and just a few miles from a small airport. About 120,000 homes and businesses lost power in the area as dozens of emergency personnel descended on the dramatic scene.
Photos show the aircraft enmeshed vertically in the lines and dangling off a transmission tower. It’s unclear how much damage the accident caused, but some estimates say the plane was trapped more than 100 feet off the ground.
A spokesman for Montgomery County’s Fire and Rescue Service identified the pilot as Patrick Merkle, 65, and the passenger as Jan Wiliams, 66. The pair were advised to conserve battery life so they could continue to communicate with rescuers throughout the night.
Crews had to work to ground the high-voltage power lines and secure the plane before they could attempt any rescue effort, Goldstein said. Video posted to social media early Monday morning showed rescue crews working in heavy fog to secure the plane after the power lines were grounded...
Both pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries but are expected to be alright. Power was restored to virtually all customers much earlier than expected because the two people in the airplane were able to exit it on their own power into the rescue buckets attached to rescue cranes. What a night!
(Photos: Tom Brenner/AP)
