Three children were among five Canadian citizens who perished when their small plane crashed near Nashville, Tennessee, authorities said Tuesday.
The exact ages, names and genders of the five victims aboard the flight from Ontario were’t immediately available, air safety investigator Aaron McCarter told reporters in Nashville.
The single-engine plane craft came down about 60 feet away from eastbound lanes of Interstate 40, near the Nashville suburb of Charlotte Park, just before 8 p.m. EST on Monday, officials said.
The plane had actually circled over John C. Tune Airport at 2,500 feet above, briefly flew away and was coming back to that airport when it lost power, McCarter said.
“We’re still trying to determine why he decided to overfly the airport at 2,500 feet. I don’t know that yet,'” he said. “We are are at the infancy of this investigation. These are all things that will come to light in subsequent days.”
The pilot appeared calm as he told air traffic controllers that his prone craft was dropping fast.
“I’m declaring an emergency,” he said, according to a recording on LiveATC.net. “My engine shut down.”
Runway 2 at John C. Tune Airport was cleared for the distressed craft, but the pilot said he had already descended to 1,600 feet and doubted he’d reach the airport: “I’m going to be landing, I don’t know where.”
“Yes, I have it (the airport) in sight,” he continued. “I’m too far away, I won’t make it.”
Increasingly concerned controllers told the pilot not to give up on reaching the airport.
“Keep flying that airplane!” the tower said. “If you can glide in there, they’re clearing the runway for you!”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Nicole Duarte and Jay Blackman contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
