Moments before a small plane crashed along Interstate 40 in Nashville, killing an adult and three people, the pilot told air traffic controllers, “We’re going to land, we don’t know where.” The situation was recorded. The kids.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are currently investigating what caused the plane, referred to in radio recordings as a Piper PA-32R, to crash from the sky Monday night.
Nashville Metro Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said that around 7:40 p.m., the control tower at John C. He said he received a message that it was needed.
“Nashville, we declare a state of emergency. Engines have stopped,” the pilot can be heard saying in an audio recording obtained by YMT.
Five people killed in single-engine plane crash in Nashville, officials say
Investigators look on after a small plane crash occurred along eastbound Interstate 40 at mile marker 202 in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, March 5.
“Are you trying to land on John Thune?” the air traffic controller says.
The pilot replied, “The engine has stopped. We are currently at an altitude of 1,600 degrees. We are about to land, but we don’t know where.”
In the recording, the pilot said he could see the airport’s runway, but declared, “It’s too far. We can’t get there.”
The single-engine plane ultimately crashed near Interstate 40 East at mile marker 203 in West Nashville, about three miles from the airport.
Airplane pilot leaves cockpit to help deliver baby during flight to Thailand
The plane crashed about three miles from Nashville’s John C. Thune Airport. (Nashville Metro Police Department)
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Aaron McCarter said at a news conference Tuesday that the pilot had another adult and three children on board. He said the five people are Canadian citizens and authorities are working with the Canadian government to identify them.
McCarter said the flight departed from Ontario and made stops along the way at potential gas stations, including Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mount Sterling, Kentucky. McCarter added that the plane was on a normal flight trajectory with no mechanical abnormalities reported during the flight from the Kentucky airport until the pilot radioed the emergency.
Flames can be seen after a crash along Interstate 40 in Nashville Monday night. (@KevinCoffeyCMA)
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“I saw the plane essentially fall out of the sky and hit the ground at about a 45-degree angle,” witness Matthew Weiser told The Associated Press. “When it hit the ground, there was a 30- to 40-foot explosion. And all the traffic on the interstate stopped and kind of processed what they saw.”
Fox News’ Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
