Plane crashes on busy Gainesville road, hitting multiple vehicles, police say

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A plane made an emergency landing and crashed into multiple vehicles on a busy Gainesville road, police said Monday.

The single-engine plane landed on Browns Bridge Road and Pearl Nix Parkway.

The pilot, flying a Hawker Beechcraft BE-36, reported engine issues around 12:10 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

The plane left Gainesville’s Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport and was headed for Cherokee County Regional Airport in Canton, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

>> WATCH THE MOMENT THE PLANE MADE ITS EMERGENCY LANDING:

“Mayday, mayday, mayday... Gainesville,” he said.

The pilot appears to believe he was in for the worst when he made a plea for the air traffic controllers to relay a message for him.

“We’re not gonna make it. Please tell my wife I love her -- and my parents -- I love them so much,” he says.

NTSB said the plane made the emergency landing because it did not have enough power and hit three vehicles.

“Hundreds of thousands of vehicles travel this roadway each and everyday so emergency crews were really expecting the worst of the worst when they responded,” Cpt. Kevin Holbrook from the Gainesville Police Department said. “This is typically a situation which we would see multiple fatalities. The fact that the plane struck a vehicle, the fuel compartment came off one of the wings, was lodged into the back of this vehicle and didn’t cause some type of explosion is just absolutely remarkable.”

One of the vehicles struck was a Four Ceas Pool & Spa truck.

“He gave me a shout and said hey man um I’m all good, but I got hit by a plane,” Four Ceas Pool & Spa owner Cory Davis said. “Not everyday that you’re sitting at a red light and a plane comes down and scrapes up the side of the truck.”

Davis’ employee was able to drive the truck away from the scene with minimal damage.

“It was just a wild, wild sequence,” Davis said. “What a Monday.”

Police said there were minor injuries but did not elaborate further.

The road was closed for hours, but around 6:15 P.M. the plane was loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken back to the airport.

FAA officials said the agency will investigate the incident.

The NTSB will have a preliminary report within 30 days.