'We've Lost Both Engines,' Pilot Says Before Jet Crashed Onto Florida Interstate, Killing 2

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Moments before a private jet slammed into a Florida highway, the pilot calmly told an airport controller that the aircraft “was not going to make the runway” since it had lost both engines.

The jet, with five people aboard, was bound for the airport in Naples when it tried to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75 on Friday afternoon. But witnesses say it collided with a vehicle — the wing of the plane dragging a car before slamming into a wall. An explosion followed, with flames and black smoke rising from the scene.

Two people were killed, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, but it wasn’t immediately know whether the victims had been passengers on the plane or were on the ground.

Federal authorities have launched an investigation into the crash near Naples, just north of where the interstate heads east toward Fort Lauderdale along what is known as Alligator Alley. One National Transportation Safety Board investigator arrived at the crash site Friday afternoon, with several more expected to arrive on Saturday.

The plane had taken off from an airport at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, at about 1 p.m. It was scheduled to land in Naples around the time of the crash, Naples Airport Authority spokesperson Robin King said, when pilot contacted the tower requesting an emergency landing.

“Got that. Emergency. Clear to land. Runway. Two. Three,” the air traffic controller responded to the pilot, in audio obtained by The Associated Press.

“We’re clear to land but we’re not gonna make the runway. We’ve lost both engines,” the pilot calmly replied.

The tower lost contact, and then airport workers saw the smoke from the interstate just a few miles away, King said.

King said they sent