Pepco has received an award in recognition of their handling of the Nov. 2022 plane crash in Gaithersburg.
On Nov. 27, 2022, a small plane with two occupants crashed into power lines and became stuck by Rothbury Drive and Goshen Road. The occupants were rescued hours after the crash occurred, and many residents temporarily lost power.
Pepco received a Recovery Award as part of the Emergency Response Awards from the Edison Electric Institute, per a release from Exelon.
The plane crashed into a Pepco 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission tower, per the release, cutting power to nearly 90,000 customers.
“As the rescue was underway, preparation was performed to reroute electric service where necessary, which allowed power to be restored to all customers in about six hours,” the release states.
During a media update at the time in November, Pepco Region President Donna Cooper said power was restored to all customers as of 11:58 p.m. the night of the crash, which occurred around 5:30 p.m.
The two occupants in the plane were hospitalized due to the crash. The two were removed hours after the crash occurred. Officials were concerned about the plane shifting throughout the extrication.
After the passengers were rescued, crews removed the plane and made temporary repairs so all affected transmission circuits could be restored, according to the release from Exelon.
The repairs to the damaged Gaithersburg transmission tower and overhead lines were finished on Feb. 3, Pepco told MCM in an update that month.
