Two adults and three children were killed on Monday evening when a single-engine airplane crashed near Interstate 40's Charlotte Pike exit.
The Piper PA-28-32-300-T turbocharged aircraft was registered in Canada and departed Ontario on March 4, stopping in Erie, Pa. and Mount Sterling, Ky., before heading to its next scheduled destination, Nashville's John C. Tune Airport. The aircraft crashed roughly three miles from the airport around 7:45 p.m.
Investigators have not identified any of the victims but did confirm that they were all Canadian citizens who departed Ontario together. Some personal effects were recovered, and they are working with the Canadian embassy to confirm their identities and notify next of kin.
According to Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney, witnesses to the crash said that the airplane did “implode on impact,” with emergency crews arriving to “heavy flames and fire and smoke in the area.”
No one on the ground was injured and no road vehicles or infrastructure on the ground were damaged.
A section of I-40 East was shut down and reopened at approximately 2:42 a.m. while MNPD, NFD, Tennessee Highway Patrol and Nashville International Airport Police secured the scene. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are leading the investigation.
In audio obtained by local media of the radio communications between the unidentified pilot and an air traffic controller recorded the plane's final transmission in which the pilot can be heard saying, “My engine turned off. I'm at 1,600 [feet]. I'm going to be landing … I don't know where.”
NTSB air safety investigator Aaron McCarter speaks to reporters on March 5, one day after a Nashville plane crash killed five people.
“For reasons unknown the aircraft descended and approached John C. Tune Airport and passed overhead at 2500 feet,” NTSB air safety investigator Aaron McCarter told reporters on Tuesday. “The pilot reported that he was going to pass over the airport at 2500 feet. Very quickly thereafter, the pilot reported a catastrophic engine loss of power...a complete loss of engine power. No emergency was declared by the pilot. However, ATC, which was in communications with the pilot, declared an emergency on the pilots behalf and offered assistance.”
The wreckage has now been collected and transported to Springfield, where it will be reassembled as part of the ongoing investigation, which includes representatives of the manufacturer of the plane and its parts.
Investigators have received several security camera videos of the crash, including from a nearby Costco, and they are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has video footage of the crash to report it to the NTSB.
A preliminary crash report is expected to be made public in the next 10 days, but the final report will not be published for nine months to one year.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.