A small plane nosedived into an Italian highway, crashing into the pavement and killing its pilot and passenger, harrowing video shows.
Footage from the freeway in Brescia captured the moment the Freccia RG aircraft swoops in from the sky nose-first on Tuesday and slams into the road, erupting into a plume of fire and black smoke.
The horrific crash killed pilot and lawyer Sergio Ravaglia, 75, of Milan, and his partner, Ann Maria De Stefano, 60, according to the local Giornale di Brescia.
Two drivers were also injured in the blast, officials said. Video shows several cars driving in and out of the burning crash site.
Ravaglia appeared to be attempting to complete an emergency landing on the highway but failed to regain speed, causing the aircraft to nosedive and spin out of control, witnesses told the local outlet.
First responders rushed to the scene to contain the fire, but found the plane already completely destroyed.
A consultant from Italy’s National Agency for Flight Safety is set to arrive in Brescia on Wednesday as officials begin to investigate the cause of the crash.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Brescia has opened a manslaughter investigation regarding the incident, but the subject of the charge has not been publicly named.
The prosecutor’s office will request a preliminary assessment of the wreck and look into the state of maintenance of the plane Ravaglia was flying.
The Freccia RG is an Italian ultralight plane built from carbon fiber with a wingspan of nearly 30 feet.
