Indian American says he nearly drove into crashing plane

WASHINGTON - An Indian American says he nearly drove into a crashing plane as a man harbouring a grudge against the US tax agency IRS (Internal Revenue Service) flew it into a building housing an IRS office, and lived to tell the story.

A busted windshield and a smashed sunroof are remnants of Dinesh Mallam’s car after a Piper Cherokee PA28 grazed over the top of it on its way into the Echelon I building in Austin, Texas.

Mallam, who hails from Hyderabad, was driving to work on a route he only took Thursday morning because he had to drop a friend off nearby.

“It happened in like a split second. Only my car was under the plane. I don’t know if it was lucky or unlucky, but I’m safe,” he told local News 8 Austin.

Mallam was travelling south on the frontage road of Highway 183 right in front of the building the plane crashed into. He said he saw the plane coming at him and the wing nearly clipped his car.

“In a split second, it hit the ground floor of the building on the right side. The impact was so huge that my car was treading and totally out of control,” Mallam said.

“I was trying to control my car. My windshield was broken and all the debris piling on my car. I could hear all the noises from the explosion. I blacked out for like two seconds.”

He said he regained composure and got control of the car. As soon as he could, he brought it to a stop, but Mallam said he couldn’t see due to the thick black smoke surrounding him. He also said he almost wished he couldn’t hear.

“It was like an IMAX theatre or something. All my windows were rolled up, but I could still hear that sound so loud,” he said.

“The wing blocked my view, it was coming, it was so low, so close,” Mallam told Fox News. “The blast happened on top of my car, that’s why my moon roof was blown off, and all the shrapnel and all the debris fell on my car. My car felt very heavy, it felt dislocated for a while.”

The FBI agents on the scene questioned him about the accident. “I told the FBI agent, the lady, at first, and she was like, ‘really?’,” Mallam recalled.

Mallam said that even his insurance company did not believe what happened at first. However, they decided to put him in a rental car after learning what happened.

Sitting in his apartment, he still can’t believe he made it out alive. “I’m so lucky I escaped without even a scratch,” Mallam said.

Federal officials are keeping his car while the investigation continues. Mallam’s not sure when he’ll get it back, but believes it is still driveable.