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A Diamond DA40-NG experienced engine failure on approach to the airport Thursday night, hitting powerlines and a tractor-trailer as it crash landed onto the busy highway and burst into flames. The flight instructor and student pilot were able to escape the wreckage before it erupted into a ball of fire, walking away with only minor injuries. The driver of the truck was unharmed as well.
The plane was on approach to Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) in North Carolina on a training flight. Air Traffic Control audio, reported by local ABC 13 News WLOS, indicates that the plane's occupants reported problems with oil pressure and two ECU failures. The plane's occupants said they would try to glide, but were then able to restart the engine. They reported hearing a loud bang and warned they could lose power again. The plane's occupants had half power when they saw smoke in the cockpit.
"Aircraft is about 4 miles from the field," the ATC audio said, according to WLOS. "They managed to get their engine back up. They're at half-power. Two souls on board, 30 gallons of fuel."
The two on board were forced to try and land on the highway when they could not power the engine back on, hitting power lines and with one wing striking a tractor-trailer. Fortunately, both occupants managed to get out of the plane before it caught fire and the truck driver was not harmed. The flight instructor and student pilot were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation reported that the crash occurred around 8:30 p.m. and both lanes heading downtown were closed. WLOS reported that thousands lost power Thursday night after the crash but by 11 p.m. it had been restored. The lanes remained closed all of Thursday night and well into Friday. NCDOT spokesperson Jen Godwin told Citizen Times that one lane opened at about 10:15 a.m. on Friday and the other at about 1:40 p.m.
"The reason for (the lane closure) is there was some pavement that was damaged from the crash, so they've got some crews out there with a milling machine," Godwin said to Citizen Times. "They are trying to mill up the damaged pavement and backfill it with some new material."
The flight instructor and student were reportedly traveling from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Knoxville, Tennessee before the crash. The plane was operated by LIFT Training Academy, which has issued a 24-hour safety stand down in response.
"On Thursday evening, one of our LIFT training flights made an emergency landing on a highway near Asheville, North Carolina," LIFT told Fox News Carolina in a statement. "Our certificated flight instructor used their training and experience to land the aircraft without serious injury to themselves or any injury to persons on the ground. We are proud of the skill and composure our pilot and flight student demonstrated throughout the event and grateful to the first responders who attended to the scene to aid our pilots and secure the site. We have a team onsite assisting our pilots and the NTSB in its investigation. Per our standard procedures, we have instituted a 24-hour safety stand down for all LIFT operations."
The NTSB sent a team onsite to begin the investigation. A preliminary report is released about two weeks after the crash has occurred and a final report is issued in about one to two years.