A small plane with five people on board crashed into a highway near Naples, Florida, killing at least two.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 jet crash-landed on Interstate 75 around 3.15pm on Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
It was not immediately known if the plane struck cars or if there were any victims on the ground.
Videos and photos showed the plane in flames and with smoke billowing from the highway packed with vehicles.
The other three on board survived, said a Naples Airport spokesperson, according to the Daily Mail. Their conditions were not immediately known.
The highway between MM 111 and MM 105, roughly a six-mile stretch, ‘will be closed for at least 24 hours’ per the FAA, the sheriff’s office announced on X (Twitter).
Preliminary findings indicated that the pilot radioed that the plane had a dual engine failure as it neared Naples Airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
In an emergency call, the pilot of the private jet could be heard saying: ‘We’re not going to make it to the runway. We lost both engines.’
The plane with the registration number N823KD was flying from Ohio State University to Naples Airport, according to FlightAware.
It crashed two to three miles away from the airport.
Fort Lauderdale resident Brianna Walker, 26, said she was on her way home from Fort Myers with her friend’s mother who was driving southbound on the highway when they witnessed the crash.
‘It looked like it was trying to hit the median,’ said Walker, according to The New York Times. ‘It starts sliding across the highway, takes a car with it, the wing comes down, crushes another car and throws it into the median, and then it hits the concrete and immediately burst into flames.’
The crash is being investigated by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.
