According to the American air traffic service FAA, it is a single-engine aircraft that departed from White Plains in New York at the end of the afternoon (local time). The plane crashed into power lines near Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg shortly afterwards.
Pete Piringer, chief spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire Department, said on Twitter that rescuers have been in contact with the occupants. Video footage shows that the device is stuck in the wiring at a height of about 30 meters. The rescue work is being made more difficult because the cables are still live, Piringer said.
Fire Chief Scott Goldstein told reporters it would take until at least 9:30 p.m. (3:30 a.m. Belgian time) for all resources to be in place to attempt a rescue, but he gave no indication of how long it would take after that to actually evacuate the occupants from the plane. to get.
Local power company Pepco reported that about 80,000 customers are without power in Montgomery County. According to Piringer, many traffic lights have also failed. Only when the aircraft is safely down can repairs be started.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.