By: Katie Kaplan | WCTV Eyewitness News

January 21, 2020

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) — The Federal Aviation Administration says a Grumman AA5 with two people on board crashed near the Tallahassee International Airport Tuesday afternoon.

Both people on the plane were transferred to the hospital, according to a spokesperson for the Leon County Sheriff's Department who was monitoring the scene until investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration arrived.

No one on the ground was hurt.

The pilot reported "intermittent power outages" to air traffic controllers, said Deputy Aviation Director Jim Durwin. The airport was notified just before 5 p.m. and enacted its emergency response, Durwin said.

Emergency crews were on standby near the runway waiting for the plane to land. It was within sight, roughly a few miles away when it disappeared in the tree line.

"We get around 50 or so in-flight emergencies each year in Tallahassee. Fortunately, many of them end uneventfully, but our crews are trained to respond to whatever the emergency might be," he said.

Durwin said the plane did not depart from Tallahassee and it was not scheduled to land there. The pilot had not filed a flight log, and officials were still working to determine where it originated and where it was headed late Tuesday night, he said.

The airport remained open during the ordeal.

Both occupants on board were injured, but were conscious and alert, said Deputy Dave Teems. No additional details regarding their condition or identities has been released.

In the minutes after the plane crashed, the Leon County Sheriff's Office confirmed it was looking into an "aviation incident" near the intersection of Springhill and Cox roads, where a large presence of emergency responders was seen. It included LCSO, Leon County Emergency Medical Services, several crews from the Tallahassee Fire Department, as well as a K-9 unit and LCSO search helicopter, which located the plane from the air.

The plane landed in dense brush in a forested area. Pictures of the downed plane that were released by the City of Tallahassee showed extensive damage and that it had hit at least one tree, but it did not catch fire.

Investigators with the FAA will look into the crash and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine what caused it.

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