Wild photos show the moment a pilot and his passenger miraculously survived a harrowing incident after their small plane crashed onto a busy roadway.
According to a statement from the Gloucestershire police force, the “light plane” was traveling over a heavily trafficked stretch of road in the small English village at around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
"We have had a report that a light aircraft landed on the A419 Stroud Road near Aston Down airfield in Frampton Mansell," authorities explained. "There were two occupants on board who will be assessed by the ambulance service, and it is understood that no other vehicles were involved."
Astonishing pictures snapped by witness Mila Vukelić show the plane's unidentified occupants sitting calmly in the cockpit mere inches from the pavement, the bottom half of the aircraft seemingly stripped away in the crash.
A pilot and passenger managed to escape with minor injuries after their light aircraft crash-landed on a road in Gloucestershire ⬇️ https://t.co/6Dn8ZWaFlz
— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) August 28, 2024
???? Plane crashes into busy road — and passengers make miracle escape
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 28, 2024
Shocked pilot and passenger sit in cockpit after the jet landed on A419 in Gloucestershire
Find out more ⬇️https://t.co/Rjbp6Y3y58 pic.twitter.com/5OfsSWLj5j
One witness told Gloucestershire Live that the plane “looked like it stalled” before it “nose-dived into the main road.” Another who spoke with BBC Radio Gloucestershire explained that they saw "what looked like a glider” moments before the crash. “My stepdaughter who's a nurse stayed at the scene to help out. The traffic is chaos up there,” they noted. Road closures were briefly put in place as paramedics aided the plane’s passengers.
“We sent one double-crewed land ambulance, an air ambulance, a rapid response vehicle and an operations officer to the scene,” a spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said. “We conveyed one patient by land ambulance to Southmead Hospital and one patient to Gloucester Royal Hospital."
The Air Accident Investigation Branch has opened an investigation into the incident.
The plane crash-landed onto the busy Gloucestershire road https://t.co/m43uV75Qq8
— Gloucestershire Live (@GlosLiveOnline) August 28, 2024
