Five people climbed aboard a small Mooney airplane in Franklin County, Tennessee, and attempted to take off. The plane apparently could not get lift to clear oncoming power lines so the pilot banked to avoid them and crashed into the ground. Some reports say the plane flipped once, but it looks like it impacted hard on its belly and skidded into an embanked roadway. From the photos, the damage to the top looks like it happened when first responders extricated 2 passengers who were trapped in the plane. The plane had just taken off from the Winchester Municipal Airport in Winchester Tennessee and the crash occurred on Williams Cove Road.

All 5 passengers were injured and taken to 3 separate hospitals. Their conditions and identities are not known at this time. Mooney Aircraft is a Texas based Chinese owned small aircraft company that has been in business for 86 years. Mooneys are popular with small plane enthusiasts as they are affordable, easy to fly and cheap to maintain. Two problems that aviation aficionados report with the plane is a tendency to ice up (not a problem here since it was 75 degrees) and also Mooneys are slow to get off the ground. This could be an important fact given that their slow takeoff speed is well known in the industry and that the plane was overloaded on takeoff.

The plane is registered to Brent Pressley of Morristown Tennessee.

Authorities are investigating the crash.

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