Maryland plane crash leaves two people stuck, thousands without power | USA TODAY

Two were uninjured after their plane crashed into live power lines. Thousands were left without power as officials extricated the aircraft.

RELATED: Small plane crashes into ocean off California coast

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the single-engine plane, which had departed White Plains, New York, crashed into the power lines near Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg around 5:40 p.m. Sunday. The FAA said two people were aboard.

Pete Piringer, chief spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, said on Twitter that the people on board, identified by Maryland State Police as pilot Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, D.C. and passenger Jan Williams, 66, of Louisiana, are uninjured and that rescuers had been in contact with them.

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14 comments

  1. Very interesting crash, hits power lines at ………….drum roll………….100 FEET………. so begs the Q, why the F was he at 100ft when he is either supposed to be at 500ft or 1000ft depending on area????? FAA rules do not say ‘hey dude you got the right to fly anyway you want”. The rules are there to prevent this, yet we have an entire culture os assholicity in the FAA and NTSB that just keeps writing reports and doing nothing to enforce their regulations. Small plane crashes are on the rise because of Americans Arrogance, across the board Americans have gotten so self absorbed and regulatory agencies like the FAA are enabling them by turning a blind eye to the growing problem and treating it like a “good’ol boys club”.
    What’s really interesting is the statement of one local– William Smouse, who lives about a mile from where the crash took place, told CNN affiliate WJLA on Sunday evening he was going out to dinner with his son when he saw “two big flashes” and then multiple fire engines driving by.
    Smouse said the incident was “pretty scary” and his house is located in an area where planes and jets often pass through.
    “I think about it a lot, where they come in, and, literally, they are like 200 or 300 feet over us,” he said. THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THAT, 500FT MIN IN SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS AND 1000FT IN DENSE POPULATION. PERIOD!!!!

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