A neurosurgeon has survived a plane crash in Brazil for the second time in 18 months.
Jacinto Lay, 50, attempted to make an emergency landing on a highway in the northeastern city of Teresina on Sunday after his engine failed.
Surveillance video showed the doctor’s plane crash-landing. The small aircraft slammed into a pickup truck with four people on board and collided with a motorcycle carrying two passengers before crashing into a bus station.
Additional footage showed Lay in a prone position moments before bystanders pulled him from the wreckage.
He was rushed to the Teresina Emergency Hospital, where he was treated for head trauma.
Dr. Jacinto Lay suffered head trauma and two leg fractures after his plane crashed during an emergency landing on a highway in Teresina, Brazil, on Sunday.
Lay reported engine failure moments before crashing in the northeastern Brazilian city of Teresina on Sunday.
Bystanders pulled Lay from the wreckage after the crash landing.
He underwent surgery on Sunday and Monday for a brain injury and two leg fractures, Brazilian news outlet G1 reported.
Lay, who runs his own clinic in Teresina and has been practicing medicine for 20 years, was transferred to a private medical center at the request of his family, the hospital said in a statement.
His condition was serious but stable.
Kelliane dos Santos, 27, who was sitting on the motorcycle behind her husband, was also taken to the same hospital.
Doctors said the mother of one of the children suffered head trauma and was under observation in the intensive care unit. Her condition was also serious but stable.
Some of the van’s passengers were treated for minor injuries but not hospitalized.
“I thought they were going to decapitate me,” said José do Nascimento, the truck driver. TV Club.
Kelliane dos Santos was sitting behind her husband on a motorcycle when she was hit by the plane.
Lay was also involved in a plane crash in March 2023.
Lay contacted the Teresina control tower after noticing the plane’s engine was not working, according to a transcript of the conversation.
He declared an emergency, citing a propeller failure, and said he was looking for a place to land.
After the control tower operator informed him that they were going to provide a location, Lay shouted: “Propeller stall in flight. I will attempt to land in the Sierra sector. I will attempt to land on the BR (Brazilian highway) that goes to Barro Duro.”
The plane hit the windshield of a van carrying four passengers and a motorcycle with two passengers.
The van’s windshield was shattered after being hit by the plane.
José do Nascimento was driving the truck with his wife and two grandchildren inside when they were hit by the plane.
The Regional Service for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents II is in charge of investigating the incident.
Put miraculously survived an accident March 26, 2023, in Timon, Maranhão, after a piece of one of the windows of his plane came loose. He underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle.
On January 14, 2023, a gang linked to Bolivian drug trafficking broke into an aeroclub and stole Lay’s Cessna.
“I never thought someone could steal a plane,” Lay told G1 at the time of the theft. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of something like this here in the state. The feeling is one of insecurity, of helplessness. What happened is very sad.”
The plane was carrying a drug shipment and crashed eight days later in Mato Grosso due to lack of fuel. Authorities arrested 22 suspects in the states of Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Piauí and Pernambuco.
