- A small plane crashed into live power lines in Maryland on Sunday evening, authorities said.
- The two passengers were stuck for seven hours before they could be rescued, the fire chief said.
Two people were rescued from a small plane seven hours after it crashed into live power wires in Maryland on Sunday evening. The pair had been left dangling 30 meters above the ground as rescue workers attempted to free them.
Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said in an early Monday morning update that the plane had crashed into the power lines at around 5.30 p.m. on Sunday, prompting a drawn-out rescue operation that involved securing the plane and turning off power to the electricity cables around it.
Rescue operations were only completed after midnight. The first person was removed from the plane at 12.25 a.m., and the second at 12.36 a.m.
Goldstein said that the delays were caused by rescue crews needing to ensure there there was no power in the distribution lines near the plane.
He added that both individuals rescued from the plane were taken to nearby trauma centers and had "serious injuries." He identified hypothermia and "orthopedic and trauma injuries," but did not say if those were affecting both passengers.
Pete Piringer, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, said that the injuries were "non-life-threatening."
He added that the plane had crashed into the power lines first, before getting caught up in the tower.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the aircraft was a single-engine plane that had departed White Plains, New York, and that it crashed into the power line tower at around 5.40 p.m., The Associated Press reported.
The passengers were identified as pilot Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, D.C., and passenger Jan Williams, 66, of Louisiana.
Energy company Pepco said that at its peak around 120,000 customers were left without power as a result of the crash, according to AP.
In a statement released on Twitter, Pepco said that it had restored electric service for all customers who were impacted by the incident and was "working at the crash site to stabilize the energy infrastructure there before it could start repairs."