Two people are alive with minor injuries after a plane crashed in Chattanooga on Tuesday evening, November 19. The single-engine plane crashed on the side of Shallowford Road during rush hour, according to a news release from the Chattanooga Fire Department.
No drivers on the road were injured when the plane crashed less than a mile from the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.
The fire brigade called the passengers ‘very lucky to be alive’. Both individuals were transported to a local hospital following the accident.
Passengers survive a small plane crash near Chattanooga Airport
“There is no denying that there was an incredible maneuver by the aircraft to avoid traffic on a very busy Chattanooga road, preventing a dangerous series of events that could have resulted in multiple injuries or even fatalities,” CFD public information officer Lindsey Rogers said in an emailed statement.
First responders from the Chattanooga Police Department and Fire Department were dispatched to the scene. Firefighters were at the crash site for about two hours, Rogers said.
The press release states that the reason for the crash was an engine problem.
In the aftermath of the accident, the fire department released a video showing the extent of the damage. The small aircraft was seriously damaged laterally with one wing. The front of the plane appears to be completely destroyed.
The aircraft’s cockpit is also destroyed. Firefighters cut pieces of metal and removed part of the plane to free one of the passengers, the news release said.
The road next to the crash site at the junction of Shallowford Road and Airport Road reopened at around 11am on Wednesday, November 20. Traffic drives slowly past the wreck, which is cordoned off with orange cones.
According to Rogers, the crash site has been transferred from the CFD to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration for cleanup efforts.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Chattanooga plane crash: Passengers ‘lucky to be alive’ in TN wreck
