Three Florida men were killed early Thursday when the small plane they were in crashed before reaching the Habersham County airport.
The single-engine Piper Cherokee crashed in a wooded area near a mobile home park off West Airport Road near Baldwin, about 75 miles northeast of Atlanta, after taking off from Fort Pierce, Fla.
No one on the ground was injured, according to investigators. But all three aboard the plane, as well as two dogs, died in the crash.
James Thomas Lycett, 58, of Port St. Lucie was piloting the plane, Deputy Coroner Kenneth Franklin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Thursday. Address records showed Lycett also owns a home in Habersham County.
Lycett’s passengers included two cousins, Franklin said.
Steven Matthew Wisor, 48, of Fort Pierce and Edward Leslie Black, 45, also Port St. Lucie, died in the crash, Franklin said.
Witnesses said they heard the plane having engine trouble before it rolled like a corkscrew through the sky, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“(It sounded like) a motorcycle when it turns on the motor. It was really loud,” Yajaira Aguilar said. “As it was going down, it was flipping and it landed in the woods.”
Investigators hope to determine whether mechanical failures or the foggy conditions contributed , according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
“From here where we’re going to go, once I finish with the on-site investigation, we’re going to move the aircraft to Atlanta Air Salvage where the investigation can continue,” NTSB investigator Eric Alleyne said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the crash. Autopsies will be conducted by the GBI crime lab.
— Mike Morris contributed to this article.
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