Naples, Florida plane crash kills two on US highway; officials investigate
Al Jazeera
The Bombardier Challenger 600 series jet has crashed on the I-75 highway in US state of Florida.
A private passenger jet crash-landed on a busy highway in Florida in the United States and collided with two vehicles on the ground in a fiery accident that killed two people, authorities and witnesses said.
Moments before the jet with five people on board slammed into the highway on Friday, the pilot calmly told an airport controller that the aircraft “was not going to make the runway” since it had lost both engines.
The jet was bound for the airport in Naples when it tried to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75. But witnesses say it collided with a vehicle – the wing of the plane dragging a car before slamming into a wall. An explosion followed, with flames and black smoke rising from the scene.
Two people were killed, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, but it was not immediately known whether the victims had been passengers on the plane or were on the ground.
Federal authorities have launched an investigation into the crash near Naples, just north of where the interstate heads east towards Fort Lauderdale along what is known as Alligator Alley.
