Several passengers have died in a single-engine plane that crashed near an interstate highway in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States of America, authorities said.
SaharaReporters reports that the incident happened on Monday when the pilot made an emergency call to John C. Tune Airport around 7:40 p.m., reported engine trouble and was given clearance to make an emergency landing, Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said.
Within a short time after the call, the pilot radioed that the aircraft would not reach the airport.
According to the report, the plane burst into flames when it crashed in a grassy median just off Interstate 40 and behind a Costco on the city’s westside.
The crash scene was about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the general aviation airport.
Aaron said, “It appears that everyone on board perished.”
The exact number of victims was not immediately known, he said. Authorities also were working to determine from where the plane originated.
There were no injuries to drivers on the interstate, Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said. Authorities said no vehicles or buildings on the ground were damaged.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.
The plane crash came about four weeks after Nigeria lost one of its banking leaders, Herbert Wigwe, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc in a helicopter crash.
Others who died include Wigwe’s wife, son and the former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
