The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) said part of I-26 West remains closed after a plane crashed Thursday night.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a Diamond DA-40 crashed along I-26 around 8:15 p.m. after declaring mayday due to engine failure.
“Mayday, mayday, we’ve got oil pressure failure, it looks like, and two ECU failures,” the pilot can be heard saying in a recording of the communication with air traffic control. “We’re coming in.”
In the recording, the pilot then says the engine lost all power but they were able to get it restarted to half power a couple of minutes later.
“Just to let you know guys know, we’ve got our engine restarted,” the pilot said. “We just heard a big bang, though, so we may lose it again here.”
The pilot then reported smoke coming into the cockpit. Unable to make it to the airport, the plane was forced to land on I-26 leading to the fiery crash.
Two people were on board the plane and sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The plane was operated by Lift Training Academy and was being used for instruction, according to the FAA report. FlightAware’s tracker shows the plane traveled from Myrtle Beach to Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday before the crash in Asheville.
LIFT Academy released the following statement after the crash:
Both sides of I-26 were shut down for hours following the crash, heavily impacting traffic.
Around 11 a.m. Friday, the NCDOT said all lanes had reopened except the right lane of I-26 West between Exit 40 or Airport Road and Exit 37 or Long Shoals Road. The lane remains closed so crews can repair the pavement.
