The pilot and passenger of a small single-engine plane, which crashed landed on the Florida Turnpike in Hollywood on Wednesday, were transported to Memorial Regional Hospital.
The pilot, Alain Jaubert, 49, from Julos, France, and passenger, Donato Pinto, 50, of Aventura, were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Florida Highway Patrol said.
FHP said there was some sort of malfunction to the plane, but no vehicles were hit.
The 2008 Socata TBM 700 plane crash landed shortly after 1 p.m., said Greg Meyer, spokesman for the Broward County Aviation Department.
The plane was returning to North Perry General Aviation Airport in Broward "when for an undetermined reason had to make an emergency landing on the Turnpike," FHP said in a statement. Meyer said the North Perry airport tower had given the pilot clearance to land.
The plane originated at the North Perrry airport, stopped at the Opa-locka Executive Airport and was going back, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. She added that it's too soon to tell what happened, but the National Transportation Safety Board will determine that.
Carlos Parodi, a turnpike asphalt worker, told NBC Miami he pulled two French-speaking men out of the plane. He said it didn't look like the plane hit any cars. It had been headed west over the turnpike then it banked, skidded and crashed into the northbound lane, he said
"It could have cartwheeled," he said.
He added the crashed occured "30 feet in front of my truck." He waited to see if the plane would ignite because it was leaking fuel, when it didn't, he pulled the plane's jammed door and got the men out.
The wreckage was removed from the turnpike and the all lanes of the highway were reopened after being shut for about five hours.
Earlier, traffic along the northbound lanes, where the crash occurred, was at a standstill from the Golden Glades Interchange. But cars stuck in the northbound lanes used the emergency lane to turn around and go the other way, heading south.
Initially, rescue crews sprayed the plane with foam. The plane's nose looked like it had crashed into the median, and the body of the craft was mangled.
The plane's tail number was registered to SV Leasing Company of Florida in Miami. A telephone number for the company wasn't available.
Stay with NBCMiami.com for updates.
