Residents of a northwest Atlanta neighborhood watched in horror Tuesday night as a plane crashed and caught fire just yards away from their homes. At least one thought the pilot made a last-minute choice that likely saved lives.
Two people on board were killed.
Near Fulton County Airport the sound of airplanes is constant, some residents said. But this time, something sounded different, almost like a missile, Kevin Krapp told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It looked like it was coming straight for our house, and at the last minute, dipped its wings over and it banked really hard right,” Krapp said. “It landed a couple hundred yards away from our house, and I thought it hit a neighbor’s house.
“It looked like the pilot landed it here on purpose because it was away from houses,” Krapp said. “It looked like he saw a bunch of houses with all the lights on and he banked at the last minute. It was unbelievable.”
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office identified one of the two people killed as Peter J. Mallen, 67, of Atlanta.
The name of the second person killed was being withheld Wednesday until relatives could be notified.
Mallen, a licensed pilot, was the CEO of Norcross-based Mallen Industries. The company’s website says it makes “high performance textile products for the industrial, automotive, active wear and intimate apparel industries.” The company did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Mallen Industries was the registered owner of the twin-engine Raytheon 390 Premier I, a business jet.
“Before it even hit, the house shook,” Drew Hawkins told the AJC. “Then I heard the explosion and it shook the house even more.”
Hawkins said he and neighbors stared in shock as the plane became a huge fireball in the woods, narrowly missing houses.
It crashed at 7:25 p.m. in the 2200 block of Thomas Road, near Bolton Road and I-285, not long after takeoff, according to the fire department and FAA. It ignited on impact, about 200 yards from houses, witnesses said.
According to the FAA, the plane took off from the Fulton airport and was destined for New Orleans Lakefront Airport.
Ely Rooney, her husband and three kids had just returned to their home when she said she heard something strange.
“You hear a lot of planes around here, but this one sounded super close,” Rooney said. “I turned around because I was halfway up the steps, and I saw this plane coming in at a bit of a tilt, and it just crashed.”
As she got her children in the house, her husband ran toward the site. She and other neighbors hoped there would be survivors.
“You see a plane and you know there are people on it,” she said. “To witness life go out in the blink of an eye is extremely traumatic.”
FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were headed to the crash site late Tuesday.
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