The incident happened around 12:45 p.m. local time when a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft crashed shortly after departing from Tullahoma Regional Airport.
According to authorities, the plane was carrying 20 people, including passengers and crew members. Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with some people being airlifted to nearby hospitals for treatment.
The crash occurred near the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, just short of the airport’s runway. According to New York Times, Terry Janiak, a witness, said the cockpit area of the plane looked “pretty rough.”
Another witness, Sheila Stone, who lives across from the airport, New York Times reports, shared her harrowing experience. She was sitting on her back porch with her dogs when the plane passed startlingly close overhead, causing her to fear it might crash into her yard.
“I’ve never been that scared,” Stone said. “I have airplanes flying over daily but never that low and close to my house thinking it’s about to crash in my yard.”
The Tennessee Highway Patrol confirmed that multiple people were flown to local hospitals, while others were being evaluated at the crash site. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the cause of the crash, with officials en route to the scene.
The police urged the public to avoid the area to allow rescue crews to operate safely.
The crash is believed to have occurred during a skydiving operation, with initial reports suggesting the plane clipped trees before going d