MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. (AP) — Crews on Monday rescued the injured pilot and passenger of a small plane that crashed into a Maryland electricity transmission tower, knocking out power for tens of thousands of customers and leaving the aircraft dangling 10 stories off the ground.
“They were anxious,” Goldstein said of the pilot and passenger. “They were concerned about the stability of the aircraft, the stability of the aircraft remaining in the tower structure. They were disoriented to the severity of or the complexity of the circumstances.”
After electrical workers made sure it was safe to try to reach the pilot and passenger, who were in contact with authorities via cellphone and were anxious to be rescued, crews secured the plane to the tower at around 12:15 a.m. Monday and took the two to safety a few minutes later, officials said. The State Police identified the pilot as Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, D.C., and the passenger as Janet Williams, 66, of Marrero, Louisiana. Both had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, and hypothermia set in while they waited to be rescued, Goldstein said. Their rescue was faster than anticipated since the pilot and passenger were able to assist, he said.
The utility Pepco reported that power was temporarily cut to about 120,000 customers in Montgomery County, but it was restored to most of them before the people were rescued. Around 11 p.m. 14 major intersections in the county were without power, but less than two hours later traffic signals were operating properly, county police said.
The county’s public school system closed its schools and offices Monday due to the outage’s impact on safety and school operations.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Crews work to get occupants out of plane tangled in high-voltage lines in MarylandCrews were planning and working late into the night on Sunday to rescue the occupants of a small airplane entangled in high-voltage power lines.
Read more »
Crews rescue 2 from plane caught in power lines in MarylandTwo people were extricated from a small plane early Monday in Maryland, several hours after they crashed into power lines, causing widespread outages in the surrounding county
Read more »
Crews rescue 2 from plane caught in power lines in MarylandA pilot and his passenger were extricated from a small plane early Monday in Maryland, several hours after they crashed into power lines, causing widespread outages in the surrounding county and the closing of schools.
Read more »
Crews rescue 2 from plane caught in power lines in MarylandThe incident caused widespread power outages in the surrounding county as officials worked to extricate the aircraft and its occupants.
Read more »
Crews rescue 2 from plane caught in power lines in MarylandTwo people were extricated from a small plane early Monday in Maryland, several hours after they crashed into power lines, causing widespread outages in the surrounding county.
Read more »