Two people die on private jet A man carrying five people landed on an interstate in southwest Florida Friday afternoon and crashed into a vehicle, authorities said.
The incident occurred in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 near mile marker 107 in Collier County, according to a Friday afternoon statement from the Florida Highway Patrol.
Video from the scene showed what appeared to be debris, smoke billowing from it, and dozens of emergency vehicles.
Pilot Edward Daniel Murphy, 50, of Oakland Park, Fla., and deputy Ian Frederick Hoffman, 65, of Pompano Beach, Fla., died Saturday, authorities said.
Two passengers and one crew member survived and were taken to hospital for treatment. Their names are Aaron Baker (35) from Columbus, Ohio. Audra Green, 23, also of Columbus. and Sydney Ann Bosmans, 23, of Jupiter, Florida.
In an updated statement Saturday, the Florida Highway Patrol said two vehicles traveling southbound on Interstate 75 were involved in the incident and were damaged. A 48-year-old Naples man was driving a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and was hospitalized with minor injuries, authorities said.
The driver of the 2023 Nissan Armada SUV, a 66-year-old Massachusetts woman, and her two passengers were not injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident occurred around 3:15 p.m. and that the plane was a Bombardier Challenger 600.
Robin King, a spokeswoman for the Naples Airport Authority, said three people on board the private plane were able to escape the wreck.
The plane took off from Ohio State University Airport in Columbus, Ohio, around 1 p.m., King said. Minutes after the plane landed at Naples Airport, the pilot told air traffic control that two of the plane's engines had failed, King said.
“Air traffic controllers then lost contact with the aircraft,” King said.
Steve Steelsmith, a witness who captured video of the aftermath of the incident, told WBBH that he was heading south on the interstate when he saw the low-flying plane.
“As the plane was coming in, I could see him try to bank the plane to the left at the last moment, and the impact happened. I didn't really see the impact, but the explosion and the plane. I could see smoke coming from it,” Steelsmith told the news agency.
He said that's when he drove to the scene and began taking video.
“As I was getting out of the truck, the first explosion happened. At that point, I knew that whoever was still on the plane, it was just a loss,” he said. Ta.
Steelsmith said the plane hit the truck and the person in the truck suffered a laceration to the head.
Officials said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
