A small plane got stuck in power lines near Washington, DC, on Sunday. Rescue workers were only able to free the two occupants from their ordeal several hours later. As a result of the accident, more than 100,000 households in the area were temporarily without electricity.
The accident occurred around 5:30 am (local time) in Montgomery Village, Maryland. The plane got entangled in electric wires at an altitude of about 30 meters.
The rescue operation took several hours. According to a local fire chief, it was necessary for safety reasons to ground the power tower first. After that, the rescuers could only reach the plane safely using a crane.
The fire service was in touch with the plane’s passengers during the operation. It concerns a 65-year-old pilot and his 66-year-old passenger. The fire service said they were taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
The plane, a Mooney M20J, was en route from New York to Montgomery County Airport, near the crash site. The cause of the accident is still unknown. It was foggy and rainy at the time of the accident.