Pilot made ‘the right decision’ regarding I-75 crash

Published: Updated:
plane crash
Credit: WINK News

In a video showing moments after the crash, the three survivors can be seen running to safety.

WINK News spoke with other pilots, who say the pilot controlling the plane did the right thing.

Flight Instructor Dakota Cyhaniuk says he was listening to the radio frequency 10 minutes before the plane crashed on I-75.

Cyhaniuk said he heard nothing out of the ordinary at first.

“All of a sudden the pilot says ‘I lost both engines’ and declared an emergency and so everyone got quiet and then right away the ATC came back and said ‘Clear to land runway two three’, ” said Cyhaniuk, “[The pilot] instantly said ‘I’m not going to make it’ and it probably was maybe 30 seconds max before I heard that call to when I saw an explosion or the fire and the smoke from that aircraft hitting like landing on the highway so yeah, we were kind of watching it real-time.”

Cyhanuik said everything happened so fast that there was no other option than to crash land on I-75, and that the pilot made the right choice in doing so.

“If you’re flying in and you’ve got an emergency right away. You’re going to say Mayday. Mayday. Declaring an emergency. At that point, the skies open up.” said private pilot Fred Rizzo.

Rizzo explained that once an emergency is declared, the control tower will advise other aircraft to get out of the way and for the pilot to land on any runway possible.

Rizzo also said that fuel exhaustion could be a possible cause for the double engine failure.

Homeowners in the area are also grateful the crash didn’t hit closer to home.

“Very fortunate, especially for that pilot who really did everything he could to save lives on the ground,” Kapadia said. “I imagine if he was just right over that barrier, that could have been our home, could have been these homes right back here.”

The NTSB will continue to investigate the crash.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.