A private jet crashed into a Florida highway as the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing, killing two people.
Just moments before the incident on Friday (Feb. 9), the pilot calmly told an airport controller that the aircraft "was not going to make the runway" since it had lost both engines. There were five people on board, with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and Collier County Sheriff's Office confirming that two people died in the crash, according to reports in the local media.
The plane was flying from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, to the Naples, Florida airport and was scheduled for travel to Fort Lauderdale, said Robin King, the director of communication with the Naples Airport Authority. She said the flight took off from Ohio at 12:30 PM before the airport lost touch with the plane just before it crashed around 3:10 PM.
"It was coming in for a landing. We received word that it had possibly lost an engine ... Then we lost contact," King said.
The pilot tried to make the emergency landing on Highway Interstate 75 in Florida's Collier County, but it collided with a car, according to Florida Highway Patrol. The wing of the plane dragged a stationary vehicle before slamming into a wall, as per the witnesses. Just a minute after the collision, an explosion happened, with videos circling on social media showing flames and black smoke going up from the scene.
Plane crash on I-75 in Naples, Fl 😳
— Maria Ducato (@mariaducato) February 9, 2024
Video credit @JobaRobinson pic.twitter.com/cg4pgsUYWa
Had a plane just land RIGHT in front of us on I-75 pic.twitter.com/z6lSVkc9JV
— bri (@B_Walker97) February 9, 2024
The victims of the plane crash have been identified as pilot Edward Daniel Murphy, 50, of Oakland Park, Florida and second in command Ian Frederick Hofmann, 65, of Pompano Beach, Florida.
The survivors, who were taken to a hospital in a nearby area for treatment of their injuries, were crew member - Sydney Ann Bosmans (23 years), from the town of Jupiter in Florida and passengers Aaron Baker (35 years) and Audra Green (23 years), both of Columbus, Ohio.
Meanwhile, two vehicles travelling south on Interstate 75 were also damaged. One of the vehicles, a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, belonged to a 48-year-old driver, who sustained minor injuries. The driver was also taken to the hospital. People in the second vehicle luckily had no injuries.
In a transcript released of the final call from the pilot, he told an air traffic controller they wouldn't make the runway, according to CNN.
Pilot: "Okay, Challenger, Hop-A-Jet 823, lost both engines, emergency. I'm making an emergency landing."
Controller: "I've got an emergency. Clear to land Runway 23.
Pilot: "We're clear to land, but we're not going to make the runway. We've lost both engines."
