Three people were left trapped and “dangling” in open air from their small plane over live power lines Sunday night in Maryland after the aircraft crashed and became entangled in the wires.
It was unclear how the crash occurred, but Chief Spokesperson for Montgomery County (MD) Fire & Rescue Service Pete Piringer, who was at the scene, said the crash happened around 5.30 p.m., with units arriving on to find a small plane suspended approximately 100 feet in the air.
Three people were on board and appeared to be OK, with no injuries reported at the time of the crash. Authorities said they are in contact with the pilot and two passengers—though their identities remain unknown at this time.
The occupants were “dangling about 100 feet in the air and everything is still energized at this time,” Piringer warned.
“They’re in a very precarious situation given the fact they are dangling about 100 feet up.”
Area roads are closed as authorities attempted to come up with a plan to rescue the trapped occupants. Special technical teams were on scene assisting—as well as a hazmat team assisting fire and police officials.
“We are in the process of getting to the people in the plane, we are in communication,” Piringer said.
The Montgomery County Department of Police urged residents in Montgomery Village to avoid the area due to “live wires” at the scene.
Tens of thousands of people were suffered power outages in the area, which utilities confirmed were the result of the crash. Pepco said in a statement that approximately 85,000 customers were affected. “We are assessing damage and working closely with Montgomery County fire and emergency services,” the company wrote.
Along with homes and shopping malls, the outage also affected traffic signals and elevators.
“I heard a crash noise and there was a flash and the power flickered,” one witness, a county employee, posted on Twitter.
“I didn’t think anything of it until I saw multiple patrol cars drive by priority followed by a ton of fire rescue. So you know I did what any off-duty 911 person did and texted a friend who’s at work.”
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