Mooney M20J crashes into power lines, leaving thousands of homes without power: what we know

On Sunday afternoon (27), a Mooney M20J aircraft, registration N201RF, crashed on a power line tower in the Gaithersburg area of Montgomery County, Maryland.

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The aircraft had taken off from Westchester County (HPN), New York, at 3:01 PM (8:01 UTC), and was bound for the Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), when at around 5:40 PM, for reasons still under investigation, it crashed in an accident in which fortunately there were no fatalities. The accident took place about two kilometers away from the runway.

Crash area

 

Local media reported that, while the aircraft was still trapped in a tower 100 feet above the ground, more than 120,000 customers in northern Montgomery County have been left without electric service.

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Rescue media are maintaining fluid contact via mobile phones with the occupants of the plane (a pilot and a passenger), who at the time of this publication on Sunday night have not been able to be evacuated due to the complexity of the tasks, which involve isolating the tower.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that, together with the National Transportation Safety Board, they will conduct the investigation and will provide updates as new information becomes available.

The Mooney M20 is a single engine aircraft of which more than 11,000 units have been produced since 1953 in different variants. It hast a length of 26 ft 8 and a wingspan of 36 ft 6 in. It has a capacity of 1,000 lb of cargo or three passengers, with a range of 1,100 nmi at a cruising speed of 242 kn.