NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The audio recording of a pilot’s emergency call to the air traffic control tower revealed the craft suffered an engine failure before crashing next to the interstate in West Nashville.
All five people aboard the Piper-Saratoga single-engine plane died in the crash, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.
At around 7:45 p.m. on Monday, the pilot of the single-engine plane reported he was having engine failure, and as a result, was attempting an emergency landing at John C. Tune Airport. That landing never happened.
The plane lost altitude and then plummeted into the shoulder area along I-40 near Charlotte Pike, right behind the Costco.
Leading up to the crash, Flight Aware showed that a Piper Saratoga with the tail number C-FBWH, which was registered out of Canada, departed from Milton and then made stops in Erie, Pennsylvania, followed by Mount Sterling, Kentucky, which is where it was coming from when the crash occurred.
The interaction between the pilot and the air traffic controller, recorded by LiveATC.net, unfolded like this:
ATC: “C-FBWH, do you still have John Tune airport in sight?”
Pilot: “Nashville, I’m declaring an emergency. My engine shut down.”
ATC: “Are you trying to land at John Tune?”
Pilot: “My engine turned off. I’m at 1,600. I’m going to be landing, I don’t know where.”
ATC: “I’m declaring an emergency. Do you have the airport in sight? Straight in runway 2. Straight in runway 2 at John Tune, do you have the airport?”
Pilot: “Yes, I have the runway in sight.”
ATC: “Runway 2. Runway 2, cleared to land.”
Pilot: “I’m too far away, I won’t make it.”
ATC: “If you can glide in there, sir, if you can glide in there. They’re clearing the runway for you.”
Multiple agencies are investigating, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, who will be looking into what happened and if this could have been prevented.
The identities of the people on board have yet to be released.
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