When rescuers arrived on the scene, they found a small plane suspended about 100 feet in the air that had struck the tower.
A pilot and passenger who were stuck in a small plane for nearly seven hours after it crashed Sunday into power lines in Maryland have been rescued.A pilot and passenger who were stuck in a small plane for nearly seven hours after it crashed Sunday into power lines in Montgomery County, Maryland, have been rescued, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Chief Scott Goldstein said early Monday morning.
The pilot was identified by Maryland State Police as Patrick Merkle, 65 of Washington, DC. The passenger is Jan Williams, 66 of Louisiana, the state police said in a news release. That involved crews ascending to put clamps or cables onto the wires to make sure there was no static electricity or residual power, the chief said. The airplane also needed to be secured to the tower structure, he said. Foggy weather conditions in the area made matters more complicated, he added, by affecting visibility.
Goldstein said the department regularly checked in with the plane occupants during the rescue and moderated the use of their cell phones to conserve their batteries. Schools in Montgomery County will be closed Monday due to power outages, district officials said Sunday night. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and leadership from Maryland State Police were on scene, Goldstein said Sunday night. The FAA put an aircraft restriction in place during rescue efforts, state police said.
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