NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Five people, including three children, were killed on Monday night when a single-engine plane crashed on the side of Interstate 40 west of Nashville, Tennessee, authorities said.
The crash occurred approximately three miles from John C. Tune Airport, WZTV reported.
3 children among 5 fatalities in crash
Update 7:46 p.m. EST March 5: A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that three children and two adults died in the single-engine plane crash on Interstate 40, WZTV reported.
“They are Canadian citizens,” Aaron McCarter, an NTSB aviation accident investigator, told The Tennessean. Authorities have still not yet identified the victims.
The plane was registered in July 2023 to A D Metro, a touchscreen company based in Ottawa, Ontario, according to the newspaper.
Original report: The crash occurred at about 7:45 p.m. CST near mile marker 202 on I-40, according to The Tennessean. Stacey Nickens, a spokesperson for Nashville International Airport, and Metropolitan Nashville Police Department officials confirmed there were fatalities.
Nickens confirmed that the aircraft, a C-FBWH, left Mount Sterling, Kentucky, around 7:19 p.m. CST and was set to arrive at John C. Tune Airport in Nashville around 7:43 p.m., the newspaper reported, citing the plane’s flight pattern.
Police did not confirm how many people were on the aircraft or a specific number of fatalities, but said that everyone on board the plane had died, WSMV-TV reported.
Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said the aircraft caught fire after crashing, WTVF reported.
“That impact was catastrophic and did not leave any survivors,” Loney reported.
The plane crashed behind a Costco in the 6600 block of Charlotte Pike, but no vehicles or buildings were damaged, according to WTVF.
According to police spokesperson Don Aaron, the control tower at John C. Tune Airport received a message from an aircraft saying it was experiencing engine and power failure and needed emergency approval to land, WZTV reported.
The aircraft was given approval to land, but the pilot then radioed that the aircraft was not going to make it, according to the television station.
“This evening, at approximately 7:49 p.m., the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) was alerted of a single-engine aircraft crash three miles south of John C. Tune Airport, near I-40 at mile marker 203,” Nashville Airport officials said in a news release. “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate this aircraft accident after Metro first responders ensure the accident scene is safe.”
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell praised Nashville’s first responders for arriving quickly.
“Our thoughts go out to the loved ones of all those on board the single-engine aircraft that crashed near Interstate 40 this evening,” O’Connell said in a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I want to thank the Metro emergency responders who were on site quickly and extinguished the fire.”