Five Dead After Plane Crashes in Fiery Explosion Near Busy Tennessee Highway
A small, single-engine plane crashed in a fiery explosion next to a busy highway in Nashville, TN on Monday night, immediately killing all five people on board including the pilot.
The incident occurred on the eastbound lanes of the I-40 near the Nashville suburb of Charlotte Park just before 8 p.m. The plane crashed in a grassy area close to a Costco store, and miraculously no buildings or vehicles were impacted by the crash.
According to NBC News, the pilot of the plane, which had been traveling from Kentucky to Nashville at the time of the crash, made a radio call to a nearby control tower to request an emergency landing due to engine problems around 7:45 p.m. The pilot reported that the single-engine had failed and power had cut out.
But unfortunately, the aircraft was not able to make it to the nearby John C. Tune Airport and crashed about three miles south.
Footage from the scene shows the plane erupt into a giant fireball on the moment of impact. The Federal Aviation Administration arrived on the scene Monday night and police said that the National Transportation Safety Board would arrive on Tuesday.
WATCH: Moment when plane crashes along I-40 in Nashville, Tennessee. Several people were killed in the plane crash.
pic.twitter.com/MwoE6Y8A3F— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) March 5, 2024
"Approval was given to land on runway 2 at John Tune Airport. But the pilot then radioed that the aircraft was not going to make it," said Metropolitan Nashville Police Department public affairs director Don Aaron at a press conference following the crash. Aaron added that it was "fortunate" that the plane didn't hit anything else on its way down.
"When that plane did go down, it did, as witnesses described, implode on impact," Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said at the same press conference. "That impact was catastrophic and did not leave any survivors."
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell posted a statement about the crash to social media late Monday. "Our thoughts go out to the loved ones of all those on board the single-engine aircraft that crashed near Interstate 40 this evening," O’Connell wrote.
Our thoughts go out to the loved ones of all those on board the single-engine aircraft that crashed near Interstate 40 this evening.
The @NTSB and @FAANews will lead the investigation into what led to the crash. https://t.co/aCzb8w27B5— Freddie O’Connell (@freddieoconnell) March 5, 2024
Authorities have not yet released the names of any of the people on board the plane pending an investigation.
