Mass power outages were reported in Washington, DC, Sunday night after a small plane crashed into high-voltage power lines. Rescue services were working into the night to rescue two people on board the aircraft that was still entangled in the cables. The crash happened at about 5:30 pm local time in Montgomery Village, Maryland, according to the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service and the plane got caught up in live power lines about 100 feet from the ground.
Over 120,000 customers were affected, according to Pepco, the Washington-area utility company. Several traffic lights were also out due to power problems and roads had to be closed.
Talking about the people in the plane, fire officials said two people were alive but trapped inside the plane.
Scott Goldstein, Montgomery County Fire Chief, informed reporters that the rescue officials are in regular contact with the occupants and have been calling their cell phones. However, there is no information on the condition of the people in the plane.
Rescue operations are being hampered due to misty conditions and to avoid electrocution.
“There is no other way to determine if it’s safe to access the tower until it is grounded, which means crews have to go up to the wires themselves to put clamps and cables onto the wires,” Goldstein told reporters. This is to ensure there is no static electricity or “stray” power.
He further informed that it was important that the plane is secured to the electrical tower before the occupants can be removed. An “extraordinarily large crane” provided by a local company was on the scene, in addition to electrical tower specialists who will man large tower bucket trucks.
According to the FAA, the Mooney M20J aircraft was flying from Westchester, New York and had been due to land at Montgomery Airpark, close to the crash site.
(With inputs from agencies)
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
