Louisiana woman rescued after small plane crashes into live power lines

Associated Press
·2 min read
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GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) — A Louisiana woman suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries early Monday after a small plane crashed into live power lines in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Two people were rescued Monday more than six hours after their small plane crashed into live power lines, causing widespread outages across Montgomery County.

Maryland State Police identified them as pilot Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, D.C., and passenger Janet Williams, 66, of Marrero, Louisiana. Both suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and that hypothermia had set in while they waited to be pulled from the plane, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said.

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Goldstein said the plane got stuck in the lines about 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground at around 5:40 p.m. Sunday. Responders secured it to the tower at 12:16 a.m. Monday, and the first occupant was removed from the plane at 12:25 a.m. The second occupant was out at 12:36 a.m.

The single-engine Mooney M20J hMad departed White Plains, New York, and crashed into a power line tower near Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The FAA, National Transportation Safety Board and Maryland State Police are investigating.

Utility contractors had to disconnect the high-tension wires to make it safe for rescuers to stabilize the plane.

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The utility Pepco had reported that about 120,000 customers were without power in Montgomery County, but most of them, outside of the crash site, had their electricity restored before the people were pulled from the plane.

The Montgomery County Public School system decided late Sunday night to close its schools and offices Monday due to the outage’s impact on safety and school operations. The closures extended to child care programs, the system tweeted Monday morning.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana woman rescued after plane crashes into live power lines