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 northeast city of Teresina on Sunday after his engine failed.
Surveillance video showed the doctor’s plane making the crash landing. The small aircraft plowed into a van with four people inside and struck a motorcycle carrying two passengers before slamming into a bus station.
He was rushed to Teresina Emergency Hospital, where he was treated for head trauma.
Dr. Jacinto Lay suffered head trauma and two leg fractures after crashed his plane during an emergency landing on a highway in Teresina, Brazil on Sunday
Lay reported engine failure moments before he crashed in the northeast Brazilian city of Teresina on Sunday
Bystanders pulled Lay from the wreckage after the crash landing
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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 practiced medicine for 20 years, was transferred to a private medical facility upon the request of his family, the hospital said in a statement.
He was in serious but stable condition.
Kelliane dos Santos, 27, who was sitting on the motorcycle behind her husband, was also taken to the same hospital.
Doctors said that the mother of one suffered head trauma and was under observation in the intensive care unit. She was also in serious but stable conditi
Some of the passengers in the van were treated for minor injuries but not hospitalized.
‘I thought I was going to be decapitated,’ José do Nascimento, the van’s driver, told TV Clube.
Kelliane dos Santos was sitting behind her husband on a motorcycle when she got hit by the plane
Lay was also involved in a plane crash in March 2023
Lay contacted the Teresina control tower after he noticed the plane’s engine was not functioning, according to a transcript of the conversation.
He declared an emergency, citing propeller failure, and said he was looking for a spot to land.
After being told by the control tower operator that they were going to provide a location, Lay shouted: ‘Propeller loss in flight. Will try to land in the Sierra sector. Will try 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 destroyed 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 Service for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical 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 was loosened. He had surgery to repair an ankle fracture.
On January 14, 2023, a gang linked to Bolivian drug traffickers broke into an aeroclub and stole Lay’s Cessna.
‘I never thought someone would steal a plane,’ Lay told G1 at the time of the theft. ‘It’s the first time I’ve heard of this here in the state. The feeling is of insecurity, helplessness, it’s very sad what happened.’
The aircraft was carrying a shipment of drug 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.