A 67-year-old pilot from Villa Rica was killed when his single-engine plane crashed in a wooded area in Paulding County, the sheriff’s office said Monday.

The crash happened near The Georgian community, located off Ga. 61 near Villa Rica. The pilot, identified Tuesday as Raymond K. Hicks, was the only one aboard the plane, sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Ashley Henson said. No injuries were reported on the ground.

According to the FAA, the single-engine Mooney M20F crashed around 12:30 p.m. A 911 caller reported seeing the plane crash near a creek, Henson said. Deputies and firefighters arrived at the scene and spotted the wreckage.

Investigators believe Hicks had taken off from Earl L. Small Jr. Field / Stockmar Airport in Villa Rica, located about six miles away from the crash site. Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

Monday’s crash was the second in five days in metro Atlanta. On Thursday, a pilot was unharmed after crash landing his single-engine plane in a busy medical district blocks from Emory Decatur Hospital in DeKalb County.

On Oct. 8, a small plane crashed at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, killing all four people on board. A preliminary report released by the NTSB said the 1978 Cessna 210′s original engine had recently been changed out and the conversion was completed July 19.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Greene County head football coach Darius Robinson, seen here celebrating with his team after a win in October, was relieved of coaching duties after his arrest, the Greene County School District said. (Lance McCurley/Lake Oconee News)

Credit: Lance McCurley/Lake Oconee News

Featured

Students line up after school for school buses at Sequoyah Middle School in Doraville on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. The school’s principal told teachers not to talk to students about ICE, and teachers and activists are pushing back. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com