Small Plane Crashes Into Transmission Tower in Maryland - The New York Times

A tiny level crashed into a transmission operation successful Maryland connected Sunday, knocking retired energy to astir 117,000 customers arsenic rescuers raced to extricate the 2 radical connected committee who were trapped astir 100 feet supra the ground, the authorities said.

The pilot, Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, and the passenger, Jan Williams, 66, of Louisiana, did not look to beryllium earnestly injured, Pete Piringer, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, said connected Sunday.

He said the authorities had been successful interaction with the 2 radical arsenic the craft dangled successful the powerfulness lines and tower. Chief Scott Goldstein, of the region occurrence and rescue service, said successful a quality league connected Sunday nighttime that officials had told the aviator and the rider to conserve artillery beingness connected their phones successful bid to pass with rescuers.

It remained unclear what led to the crash, which happened successful Montgomery Village, Md., astir 5:40 p.m. and made for antithetic photos by residents and officials connected societal media. The images and videos showed the level entangled successful powerfulness lines and seemingly suspended successful the aerial successful a snarled messiness of metal.

By 9:30 p.m. connected Sunday, officials had devised a rescue plan, Chief Goldstein said: First, crews volition spell up the operation and guarantee the wires person nary residual power. The crews volition spot cables connected the ligament and transportation immoderate static energy to a crushed source, helium said.

Another unit volition past usage bucket trucks — which are vehicles utilized to elevate workers — oregon an “extraordinarily ample crane” to entree the aircraft, unafraid it to the operation and region the aviator and the passenger, Chief Goldstein said.

“It’s not going to beryllium unchangeable until it’s chained and strapped successful place,” Chief Goldstein said. “Any movement, immoderate accidental movement, could marque the condition worse.”

To marque matters much difficult, dense fog successful the country was worsening visibility, Chief Goldstein said, and would “make things much bedewed and slippery.”

By 10 p.m., bucket trucks had arrived astatine the country and crews were preparing to embark connected what officials expected to beryllium a risky cognition that would instrumentality hours. At 1 point, much than 100 occurrence and rescue workers were astatine the site.

“We are taking measured and risk-balanced steps to attack this,” Chief Goldstein said.

Pepco, the vigor institution successful Maryland affected by the crash, said connected Twitter that it was “awaiting clearance to the country earlier crews tin statesman enactment to stabilize the electrical infrastructure and statesman restoring service.”

In summation to the unsafe rescue operation, officials and residents were contending with an adjacent problem: Wide swaths of the county, which has astir 1 cardinal residents, remained without powerfulness connected Sunday night, and officials were unsure however agelong restoration would take, fixed the extended harm to the tower.

The Montgomery County Public School System said that due to the fact that much than 40 of its schools and six bureau facilities were without powerfulness connected Sunday night, it would see canceling classes connected Monday. Two hospitals successful the area, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center and Holy Cross Hospital successful Silver Spring, were operating astatine constricted capableness connected Sunday due to the fact that of the outages, Chief Goldstein said.

Mr. Piringer said determination were already reports of stalled elevators and malfunctioning postulation lights connected Sunday night.