A doctor and a pilot have been rushed to hospital after a medical plane crashed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
The single-engine plane crashed just after 10am on Wednesday morning on a secondary runway near Terminal 1 at the North Carolina airport.
A ground stop was issued shortly after the medical plane crashed, and was lifted an hour later, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Dr. Paul Chelminski, an internal medicine physician with UNC Health, was on board alongside the pilot, who has not yet been named.
Images captured at the scene show the left side wing of the plane has been ripped away, while the nose has also been badly damaged.
Images captured at the scene show the left side wing of the plane has been ripped away, while the nose has also been badly damaged
Dr. Paul Chelminski, an internal medicine physician with UNC Health, was on board alongside the pilot, who has not yet been named
UNC Health said: ‘Dr. Chelminski was returning from Wilmington, where he gave a lecture to medical staff at Novant Health New Hanover Reginal Medical Center.’
A spokesperson added that Chelminski was in good condition at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill, there was no update on the pilot who was taken to Duke University Hospital.
Radio traffic heard by WRAL said: ‘Small plane down with two injuries, one entrapped…extrication underway.’
Aviation expert Jim Crouse told the outlet: ‘It looks like a low-energy impact, meaning it was not an aircraft that came forcefully out of the sky.
‘It appears to me that something happened on approach or shortly after touchdown.
‘There’s a strong vertical component to the aircraft wreckage, meaning the engine is dislodged. The wings appear to be damaged vertically as well as the tail section.’
Crouse added that he believes the plane either ‘bounced’ off the runway or hit the air ‘substantially’.
He added: ‘It looks like whatever emergency happened the pilot did a good job responding to it.’
The plane is used as a transport service through the company for medical residents, faculty and other professionals to travel across the state. Dr Chelminski is seen here on the right
Aviation expert Jim Crouse told WRAL
Michael Landguth, president and CEO of RDU Airport Authority, told reporters that the airplane would remain in the grassy area until investigators can analyze the wreckage
The plane is used as a transport service through the company for medical residents, faculty and other professionals to travel across the state.
Due to the incident, a ground stop was issued at the airport and all flight operations closed.
Just over an hour after the incident, the ground stop was lifted and the airport continued operating.
Michael Landguth, president and CEO of RDU Airport Authority, said during a press conference: ‘Our primary focus when that accident occurred was the two people who were sitting in that aircraft, to make sure we can get them into a safe condition as fast as we possibly can.
‘Secondarily is then trying to figure out how we recover and get our operations back up and running.’
Landguth also told reporters that the airplane would remain in the grassy area until investigators can work and analyze the wreckage.