A small plane crashed into power lines and a transmission tower in Maryland on Sunday night, trapping the pilot and a passenger on board while thousands in the area remain without power.
Authorities in Gaithersburg, Maryland, say that crews are working into the night to save the two individuals trapped inside the plane. Once the individuals are safe, they will begin to restore power to the nearly 90,000 residential and business buildings that are currently without power.
Photographs posted on social media show the plane entangled in the power lines and a steel transmission tower typically used for high-voltage lines. It is unknown what led to the accident, though the area was experiencing mild inclement weather at the time of the crash.
Steel transmission towers are taller than residential power line poles, the plane appears to be at least several stories high.
Utility provider Pepco said it is assessing the damage caused by the crash and is working with emergency responders to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The company tweeted Sunday night that it is waiting to be cleared by authorities before it could begin work on restoring power.
The plane – believed to be a Mooney M20J – crashed into the cables around 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, a few miles from the Montgomery County Airpark in Montgomery Village.
At a 9 p.m. briefing, Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said that emergency crews have been in contact with the two occupants of the plane, who have not suffered major injuries. Emergency responders need to make sure the power is completely off and the wires are grounded before securing the plane. They will then attempt to rescue the occupants and then power services can be restored.
Gaithersburg is about 25 miles Northwest of Washington D.C. The power outage is also affecting the D.C. Metro; trains are bypassing the Wheaton Station due to a power outage. The Metro’s official Twitter page confirmed that the outage was due to the plane crash.