Two people have miraculously escaped uninjured after a plane crashed into an electricity pylon.
Widespread power outages were reported in Maryland, US, on Sunday evening as officials worked to remove the aircraft and the occupants from the precarious position around 100 feet (30 metres) above the ground.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the single-engine plane had departed White Plains in New York before it crashed into an electricity pylon near Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg around 5.40pm local time (10.40pm GMT).
They identified the plane as a Mooney M20J.
Photographs from the scene showed a white aeroplane lodged nose-up within the structure of the tower while surrounded by power lines.
The two people on board have been named by Maryland State Police as pilot Patrick Merkle, 65, of Washington, D.C. and passenger Jan Williams, 66, of Louisiana.
Pete Piringer, chief spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, wrote on Twitter that the pair were uninjured and that rescuers had been in contact.
He later posted a video showing a cherry picker crane being used by the fire service to reach the plane.
Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein had earlier told reporters that there was no specific timetable for how long it would take to bring the plane occupants down after the area was made safe for rescuers.
He said utility contractors would first work to ground the high-tension wires before using bucket trucks or a crane to make the plane stable - either by chaining it or strapping it to the pylon.
After the plane is more stable, rescuers will use the crane or bucket trucks to bring the two people down, Mr Goldstein said.
The are "is not going to be stable until it’s chained and strapped in place", he commented, adding "any movement, any accidental movement, could make the circumstance worse."
The cause of the crash has not yet been established, with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board to conduct an investigation.
