Metro Nashville Police Department
The mangled frame of a plane lies at the crash site near Interstate 40 in Nashville Monday night.
CNN
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A small plane caught fire on the shoulder of Interstate 40 in Nashville Monday night, killing all five people on board and prompting a partial shutdown of the highway while authorities investigated the scene, police said.
John C. following an engine and power failure around 7:40 p.m. Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Dan Aaron said the plane was cleared to make an emergency landing at Dune Airport. But the pilot soon told air traffic control that they were not going.
Audio from website LiveATC.net It captured the communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller before the accident.
“Do you still see John Tune Airport?” asked the air traffic controller.
“My engine stopped. Sixteen hundred for me [feet]. I'm going to land … I don't know where,” replied the pilot.
Aaron said witnesses said the plane was “obviously in distress as it came down the interstate” before crashing into a grass field behind a Costco near I-40 east.
“We luckily the plane went down and didn't hit any buildings,” Aaron said.
The plane burst into flames, Nashville Fire Department spokeswoman Kendra Loney said.
“The impact was devastating and left no survivors,” Loney said.
Police, who have not yet publicly identified the victims, are working to determine where the plane came from.
The cause of the crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.
Accident triggered Temporary I-40 east was closed at mile marker 202, Tennessee Transportation District 3 spokeswoman Rebecca Hammonds said. In X.
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Witness video showed a plane engulfed in flames and smoke, and images shared by police showed the plane's mangled frame on a grassy roadway surrounded by first responders.
Live traffic cameras showed a large emergency vehicle response and a string of gridlocked traffic blocking all eastbound lanes near the crash site. For the closed portion of I-40 East.
“If you're traveling tonight find an alternate route,” Hammonds said, adding that the investigation will continue.
CNN has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration for additional information.
CNN's Amanda Jackson and Carol Alvarado contributed to this report.
