Montgomery County Police have released the 9-1-1 call made by the pilot who crashed a small plane into a power line tower near Goshen Road and Rothbury Drive in Montgomery Village on Sunday evening. Maryland State Police identified the pilot as Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, D.C, and the passenger as Jan Williams, 66, of Louisiana. The two were rescued around 12:30am on Monday after spending seven hours in the tower, suspended more than 100ft. In a press briefing on Monday, Fire Chief Scott Goldstein reported that both individuals had been transported to the hospital and their conditions had improved. One patient was still in the hospital as of Monday afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the crash.
In the 9-1-1 call, Merkle tells the dispatcher, “I’ve flown into a tower to the northwest of Gaithersburg Airport. It’s one of the electrical towers and, believe it or not, the aircraft is pinned in the tower and I don’t know how long we’re going to be able to stay here.” He also said that he believed the two had suffered head injuries from being banged around in the cockpit. You can listen to portions of the 9-1-1 call below courtesy of WUSA9: