ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A flight instructor and student pilot survived with only minor injuries after their small plane lost power, crashed and caught fire on Interstate 26 near Asheville Thursday night, according to WLOS.
According to Flightaware.com, the plane took off from Knoxville Downtown Island Home Thursday night around 7:30 p.m. before it lost power and began gliding northwest of Asheville around 8:15 p.m.
The plane appears to have briefly stopped in Knoxville on Thursday after flying from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The plane was flying primarily in Myrtle Beach over the past month, according to its previous tracked flights.
A spokesperson for LIFT Academy, the flight school that was operating the aircraft, sent a statement to WLOS praising the flight instructor and student for their composure.
"On Thursday evening, one of our LIFT training flights made an emergency landing on a highway near Asheville, North Carolina. Our certificated flight instructor used their training and experience to land the aircraft without serious injury to themselves or any injury to persons on the ground. We are proud of the skill and composure our pilot and flight student demonstrated throughout the event and grateful to the first responders who attended to the scene to aid our pilots and secure the site," the academy said.
Audio between the pilot and Asheville Regional Airport showed the pilot remained calm even as smoke began filling his aircraft after losing electric power and hearing loud bangs. The audio was pulled from tower recordings on LiveATC.Net.
"Mayday, mayday, we've got oil pressure failure and looks like two ECU failures. We're coming in," the pilot said. "We're losing all electric power."
The pilot told the tower the plane was on its best gliding path without power roughly 4 to 5 miles away from the airport.
"Honestly, with our best glide, we're probably not going to make it," the pilot said.
A few moments later the pilot called the tower to let them know they were able to briefly restart the engine, but said they heard a "big bang." The pilot said he was trying to regain some altitude, but said smoke was starting to fill the plane before losing engine power again.
"We're in glide... we're probably going to have to put it down on the freeway it looks like," the pilot said.
The tower lost contact with the plane a few moments later after they called to let them know they were about to attempt to land the plane on I-26. Emergency ground crews arriving at the crash site called minutes later to report that the plane was on fire.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the two people inside the plane were able to escape before the plane caught fire, according to WLOS in Asheville. Troopers said the plane hit power lines that cross I-26 and one of its wings hit a semi-truck.
The two onboard the plane were taken to Mission Hospital with injuries that weren't life-threatening, according to WLOS.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane went down onto I-26 at around 8:15 p.m. It said the plane was a single-engine Diamond DA-40. The plane was registered to Diamond Aircraft Sales USA, Inc. and was being operated by Lift Training Academy, according to the FAA.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to investigate the crash. The FAA posted a preliminary report Friday about the crash, calling it an accident and saying the plane was destroyed.
I-26 was shut down for hours as emergency crews responded. NCDOT said the road reopened Friday around 9:30 a.m., and one westbound lane remained closed for pavement repairs.