A shocking video has captured the moment a small plane fell from the sky and crashed onto a busy road in the US state of Georgia. The single-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the busy intersection of Browns Bridge Road and Pearl Nix Parkway on Monday. The footage shows the aircraft plummeting, hitting the asphalt and then skidding towards oncoming traffic.
According to local media outlet WSB, the plane hit three vehicles, with one of its wings torn off and its tires blown out during the impact. Two drivers and one passenger on the plane were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The pilot and a student pilot were on board. Gainesville police confirmed that the student suffered minor injuries. The plane, a 2010 Hawker Beechcraft BE-36, experienced engine problems shortly after takeoff from Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport.
"We lost the engine as soon as we took off from Gainesville. We tried to turn around and follow every procedure, but we realized we weren't going to make it. So we decided to land on the road," pilot Thomas Rogers told FOX 5. During the emergency landing, the fuel tank broke off and hit the back of an SUV. Fortunately, the plane didn't hit any power lines or utility poles.
“The fact that the plane didn’t hit any power lines or poles and only involved three vehicles is truly remarkable,” said Gainesville Police Capt. Kevin Holbrook. Air traffic control tower communications recordings, obtained by WSB, show the dramatic moment the pilot sends out a “Mayday” signal. “We’re not going to make it. Please tell my wife Molly I love her, and my parents too,” he is heard saying.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as unbelievable. “I said to my husband, ‘It’s a plane! It’s a plane!’ It was so scary,” one said. The road where the incident occurred is considered one of the busiest in the city, with hundreds of thousands of vehicles passing by every day. Authorities closed the area for several hours to remove the plane and clean up the scene. Gainesville Police later announced that traffic had returned to normal.
