A neurosurgeon has survived a plane crash in Brazil for the second time in 18 months.
Jacinto Lay, 50, tried to make an emergency landing on a highway in the northeastern city of Teresina on Sunday after his engine failed.
Surveillance footage showed the doctor’s plane making an emergency landing. The small plane plowed into a van carrying four people and hit a motorcycle with two passengers before crashing into a bus station.
Additional footage showed Lay lying facedown just before bystanders pulled him from the plane wreckage.
He was rushed to Teresina Emergency Hospital, where he was treated for head injuries.
Dr. Jacinto Lay suffered head injuries and two broken legs after crashing his plane during an emergency landing on a highway in Teresina, Brazil on Sunday
Lay reported engine failure just before he crashed Sunday in the northeastern Brazilian city of Teresina
Bystanders pulled Lay from the wreckage after the crash landing
He underwent surgery on Sunday and Monday for a brain injury and two broken legs, Brazilian news outlet G1 reported.
Lay, who runs his own clinic in Teresina and has been working as a doctor for 20 years, has been transferred to a private medical facility at the request of his family, the hospital said in a statement.
His condition was serious but stable.
Kelliane dos Santos, 27, who was on the motorcycle behind her husband, was also taken to the same hospital.
Doctors said the mother of one of them suffered head trauma and was under observation in intensive care. She was also in serious but stable condition.
A number of passengers in the van were treated for minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment.
“I thought I was going to be beheaded,” said José do Nascimento, the driver of the van, TV club.
Kelliane dos Santos was riding 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 call.
He declared an emergency because the propeller was broken and said he was looking for a landing spot.
After the tower operator told him they would report a location, Lay called out, “Propeller loss in flight. Will attempt to land in the Sierra sector. 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 carrying two passengers
The van’s windshield was smashed after it was hit by the plane
José do Nascimento was driving the van with his wife and two grandchildren inside when they were hit by the plane
The Regional Office for Investigation and Prevention of Aviation Accidents II is leading an investigation into the incident.
Lay miraculously survived a crash March 26, 2023, in Timon, Maranhão after a piece in one of the windows of his plane came loose. He underwent surgery to repair a fractured ankle.
On January 14, 2023, a gang with ties to Bolivian drug traffickers broke into an air club and stole Lay’s Cessna.
“I never thought that someone would steal a plane,” Lay told G1 at the time of the theft. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of this in the state. The feeling is of uncertainty, helplessness, it’s very sad what happened.”
The plane was carrying a cargo of drugs and crashed eight days later in Mato Grosso due to a lack of fuel. Authorities arrested 22 suspects in the states of Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Piauí and Pernambuco.