In this image provided by the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Highway Patrol troopers are on the scene of a crash on the southbound Interstate 75 in Naples, Florida, on Friday, February 9, 2024. A small jet crash-landed on the busy Florida interstate highway and then burst into flames after colliding with a vehicle, according to authorities and news footage from the scene. INQUIRER FILES(Florida DOT/The News-Press via AP)
A small jet crash-landed on Friday on a busy Florida interstate highway and burst into flames after colliding with a vehicle, killing at least two people, according to authorities and news footage from the scene.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane, seen in video and photos engulfed in flames and thick smoke, was a Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet with five people aboard.
The aircraft was landing on the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 in Collier County near Naples, a city on the southern Gulf Coast, when it collided with a vehicle, according to a statement from the Florida Highway Patrol.
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At least two people died in the accident, but it was not immediately known whether they were in the plane or in the vehicle it struck, said Adam Fisher, a spokesperson for the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
Local media reported the plane had taken off from Columbus, Ohio, and its pilot was trying to land at the Naples airport.
Television station WPLG said the pilot was heard on an air traffic control audio recording telling the Naples control tower that the plane had lost both engines and was unable to make it to the airport there.