A Southern Airways Express Cessna 208B Grand Caravan made an emergency landing on a highway near Washington DC’s Dulles International airport shorly after taking off.
The airport confirmed the event just before 13:00 local time on 19 January after images surfaced online showing the aircraft, with the registration N1983X, stopped on a snow-covered road in Virginia’s Loudon County, northwest of the nation’s capital.
“Dulles Airport received reports around 12:50pm of a departed aircraft landing off airport property on a nearby roadway,” the airport says in a social media post. “The aircraft was identified as Southern Airways Express flight 246. Responders from Loudoun County are managing the scene, and Dulles Airport remains open for take-offs and landings.”
The flight, which had originated at Dulles, was destined for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, about 88nm (160km) to the northeast. According to data from ADSB Exchange, a flight-tracking website, it departed Dulles at 12:45 local time and landed on the highway two minutes later. According to the recorded data, it reached a maximum altitude of 500ft above ground before descending again.
Video and images posted to social media show the aircraft stopped on the highway, surrounded by first responders. It is as yet unclear if there are injuries associated with the accident.
According to Cirium fleets data, the accident aircraft was built in 2003 and joined the Southern Airways fleet in 2022. Southern operates 37 of the type.
The carrier did not immediately respond to a request for comment or more information.
