Plane Carrying DEA Officers Crashes Into Tesla Model X During Emergency Landing

The plane was performing routine exercises when it ran into mechanical problems.

byRob Stumpf|
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An airplane carrying three special agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) crashed into a Tesla Model X after performing an emergency landing on a public roadway in Sugarland, Texas on Wednesday afternoon.

According to a statement made to Business Insider by a DEA spokesperson, the plane was performing routine exercises with three agents on board when it experienced a mechanical failure. The pilot was then forced to take the plane down for an emergency landing on a civilian-infested road when it collided with the electric SUV.

Local business owner Oniel Kurup was driving his Model X when the accident happened and he posted his experience and photos on Facebook, describing the incident as a "serious matter". The Model X sustained damage across the driver's side and front of the vehicle from the collision with the plane, which also struck several other vehicles and downed a power line as a result of the crash.

"Imagine you're just driving down Voss Road in Fort Bend County and all the sudden an aircraft strikes your vehicle," said Troy Nehls, Sheriff of Texas' Fort Bend County, in a statement to Chron. "That would be enough to put me in cardiac arrest. We are very fortunate that this was not much more catastrophic than what it was.”

DEA officials confirmed that only one injury was reported as a result of the accident. An agent aboard the downed flight was taken to a local hospital to be treated and subsequently released later that day. Both residents and police commended the pilot for landing on the street rather in the nearby neighborhood, citing that the accident could have been much worse.

This isn't the first time that a driver has credited a Model X with saving their lives in a bizarre accident, and it probably won't be the last. Tesla prides itself in its vehicles attaining some of the highest safety ratings in the country, coupling the results of its five-star NHTSA crash test ratings with data favoring the safety of its Autopilot semi-autonomous driving suite.

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