14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, May 27, 2013 in Macon, GA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/07/2015
Aircraft: PIPER PA-32R-300, registration: N4489F
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
A review of air traffic control information revealed that, during the cross-county flight, the pilot requested clearance for a precautionary landing at a nearby airport due to a low oil pressure indication. Shortly after the flight was cleared for landing, the pilot reported that the engine had lost total power. The pilot advised the air traffic controller that he could not make it to the airport and requested to land at a military base that was closer to his current position. The pilot was cleared to land at the military base; however, he never established radio contact with the military base tower. The airplane crashed about 0.8 mile northeast of the base in a heavily wooded swamp, and a postcrash fire ensued.
An examination of the engine revealed that the crankcase was fractured in the areas of the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 cylinders, that the camshaft was fractured, and that the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 connecting rods were separated from the crankshaft. The Nos. 1 and 2 connecting rod bearings and the Nos. 2 and 3 main bearings exhibited wiping, scoring, and extrusion signatures consistent with oil starvation. Although review of maintenance records revealed that Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directives for the replacement of the oil cooler hose and the oil filter converter plate gasket were not accomplished, extensive postcrash fire and heat damage to the engine components precluded a determination of the cause of the oil starvation.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A total loss of engine power due to oil starvation for reasons that could not be determined due to extensive postcrash fire and heat damage to the engine components.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On May 27, 2013, about 1805 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300, N4489F, was destroyed following a collision with terrain while on approach to the Middle Georgia Regional Airport (MCN), Macon, Georgia. The airline transport pilot and pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to a corporation and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Apalachicola Regional Airport (AAF), Apalachicola, Florida, destined for Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU), Greenville, South Carolina.
A review of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control (ATC) transcription revealed that the pilot requested to make a precautionary landing at MCN due to a low oil pressure indication. The controller issued a clearance to MCN airport, assigned a 360 degree heading for a modified left base for a visual approach (VA) to runway 23 and cleared the aircraft to 3,000 feet. The controller advised the pilot to expect a VA to runway 23 and issued both the wind and altimeter settings. Personnel at Robins Air Force Base (WRB), Warner Robins, Georgia, were also advised of the airplane's position and the request to transition WRB airspace for landing at MCN, which was approved. After the pilot reported MCN in sight and as the flight was approximately 5 miles south of MCN, the controller cleared pilot for the VA to runway 23. Before switching the aircraft to MCN tower, the controller offered further assistance, to which the pilot replied, "not at this time."
On initial contact with MCN, the pilot advised that his engine had lost all power and he was not going to make it to runway 23. The MCN local controller (LC) offered runway 31 for a straight in approach; however, the pilot requested landing on runway 15 at WRB. The MCN LC coordinated with WRB and advised the pilot to contact WRB tower. The pilot never established communication with WRB and the airplane crashed approximately 0.8 mile northeast of WRB, which was 3 miles southeast of MCN. Smoke was seen from WRB tower and verified by an airborne aircraft that was in the vicinity of the accident airplane.
PILOT INFORMATION
The pilot, age 58, held an airline transport pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane ratings; flight instructor, airplane single engine with a rating for instrument airplane. The pilot reported his total flight experience as 10,050 hours, including 120 hours in last six months on his FAA medical certificate application, dated August 17, 2004. At that time, the pilot was issued a second class limited medical certificate with waivers for corrective lenses. The pilot's flight logbook was not available for review.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The four-seat, low-wing airplane, serial number 32R-7680452, was manufactured in 1976. It was powered by a Lycoming model IO-540-K1G5D, 300-hp engine equipped with Hartzell HC-C3AYR-1RF three bladed propeller. A review of copies of maintenance logbook records showed an annual inspection was completed on August 16, 2012, at a recorded engine tachometer time of 1750.7 hours and a total airframe time of 5917.8 hours. A review of FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD) compliance records revealed that AD 95-26-13, oil cooler hose replacement, was complied with on May 11, 2006, and on the last annual inspection that was complied with, this AD was 354.3 hours overdue and not accomplished. Upon further review of the engine overhaul AD compliance log, it revealed that AD 02-12-07, oil filter converter plate gasket, was complied with on April 22, 2002. The AD was not effective until July 03, 2002, and the engine overhaul log did not show that this AD was accomplished at that time and there was no record in any log book showing that it was accomplished.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The recorded weather at the WRB, at an elevation of 294 feet, revealed that at 1758, conditions included wind from 150 degrees at 4 knots, clear sky, temperature 30 degrees Celsius (C), dew point 17 degrees C, and altimeter setting 30.12 inches of mercury.
WRECKAGE INFORMATION
The wreckage was located about .8 miles north of the runway 15 threshold, in a heavily wooded swamp. The airplane came to rest upright at the base of a stump, in a flat attitude, on a course of about 275 degrees. The cockpit, forward cabin, and left wing were damaged by a post-crash fire. No tree strikes were observed south of the main wreckage and all flight control surfaces were located within the wreckage area.
An examination of the cockpit section revealed that the rudder pedal assembly separated from the structure and sustained fire damage. Both rudder cable attachment levers were broken from the tube at the weld point. One rudder cable with the attached lever was recovered with the wreckage and the second cable and lever was not located.
The control column assembly separated from the aircraft and was fire damaged. Both control wheel assemblies remained attached to the upper tee bar section. The tee bar assembly sustained impact damage. The aileron chains were not attached to the sprockets. The forward aileron cables and chain assemblies were imbedded within the molten metal of the fire-damaged cockpit. The lower tee bar section separated from the upper bar assembly. Both stabilator cables remained attached to the lower tee bar assembly. Both cables were cut about 2 feet from their attachment points on the bar assembly for recovery.
The fuel selector valve assembly separated from the fuselage structure and sustained fire damage. The fuel bowl was fire damaged and no fuel was present. The valve was observed to be in the right fuel tank position, but was not in its detent.
The nose landing gear assembly remained partially attached to the engine mount assembly. The lower gear assembly separated from the upper strut housing. The position of the nose landing gear could not be determined due to impact and fire damage.
An examination of the left wing revealed that it was separated from the fuselage at the wing root. The wing broke into two sections between the flap and aileron surfaces. The wing sustained post-crash fire damage mainly to the outboard side of the outboard fuel tank out to the tip. The fuel cap remained attached to the outboard fuel tank. The inboard fuel tank separated from the wing and was destroyed by fire. The aileron surface remained attached to the wing by its inboard hinge. No fire damage was noted on the aileron surface. The aileron cables remained attached to the aileron bellcrank assembly. The bellcrank remained attached to the wing and was undamaged. The aileron cables exhibited overload type separation in the wing root area. The flap surface remained attached to the wing. The surface revealed impact damage and the position of the flap could not be determined due to separation of the flap torque tube assembly. The left main landing gear assembly remained attached to the wing and was in the retracted position.
An examination of the right wing revealed that is was separated from the fuselage at the wing root. The wing was partially consumed by the post-crash fire. Both fuel tanks were fire damaged and destroyed. The outboard fuel tank cap remained attached to the tank. The flap surface remained attached to the wing but it sustained impact and fire damage. The position of the flap could not be determined due to separation of the flap torque tube assembly. The aileron surface separated from the wing and was impact damaged. The aileron did not exhibit fire damage. The aileron cables remained attached to the aileron bellcrank assembly. The bellcrank separated from the wing and both arms of the bellcrank were bent. The aileron cables exhibited overload type separation signatures in the wing root area. The right main landing gear remained attached to the wing and was in the retracted position. The gear assembly was fire damaged.
An examination of the empennage section revealed it was separated from the cabin area due to the post-crash fire. The rear empennage was intact and all movable control surfaces remained attached. The left horizontal stabilizer sustained leading edge impact damage on its inboard section. The right horizontal stabilizer tip was bent upwards, outboard of the trim tab. The rudder remained attached to the vertical fin and was impact damaged. The forward vertical fin and fairing sustained impact and fire damage. Both left and right rudder control cables remained attached to the rudder horn. Both stabilator control cables remained attached to the balance weight arm assembly.
An examination of the engine revealed the crankcase was fractured in the areas of the numbers 4, 5, and 6 cylinders. A visual inspection through the case openings showed impact damage to the interior surfaces. The camshaft was fractured in the area above the numbers 5 and 6 cylinders. The numbers 4, 5, and 6 connecting rods were separated from the crankshaft. The numbers 1, 2, and 3 connecting rods remained attached to the crankshaft. The number 3 connecting rod was free to rotate on the crankshaft rod journal. The numbers 1 and 2 rods rotated on the journals and the number 3 rod bearing was unremarkable. The numbers 1 and 2 rod bearings exhibited wiping, scoring and extrusion of the bearing material. The front main crankshaft bearing was unremarkable. The numbers 2 and 3 main bearings exhibited wiping, scoring and extrusion of bearing material. The rear main bearing exhibited wiping, scoring and thermal discoloration. The accessory case was melted on the right side of the oil filter mounting boss. The accessory case and the oil filter mounting plate were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for further evaluation. The hydraulic hose fitting which attached the hose from the right oil cooler to the accessory case near the oil filter was fractured. The separated portion of the fitting and the hose were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for further evaluation. Material consistent in appearance with portions of connecting rods, rod caps, rod bolts, rod bolt nuts, tappet bodies, bearing material and a camshaft lobe were observed in the oil sump.
Oil was observed inside the engine. About 1 pint was drained from the engine when it was mounted vertically for disassembly. The oil sump was removed and contained a small amount of oil and debris, consistent with bearing material, tappet body material, connecting rod material and a portion of the camshaft. The oil suction screen was almost completely obstructed by metallic debris, both ferrous and non-ferrous. The oil filter paper element was charred and exhibited a smaller amount of metallic debris. The oil coolers remained attached to the rear engine baffling and no breach in the cooler surfaces was identified. The oil cooler hoses exhibited fire damage. Examination of the oil pump revealed the gears were intact and no anomalies were noted.
An examination of the fuel injector servo revealed that it remained attached to the engine and was discolored and fire damaged. The throttle and mixture cables remained attached to the throttle and mixture control arms. The fuel servo inlet screen was removed and no debris was noted.
The fuel manifold flow divider remained attached to the engine and was fire damaged. The rubber diaphragm was deteriorated and partially melted. The one-piece fuel injector nozzles were removed. The nozzle from the number 5 cylinder was obstructed with molten metal debris. The remaining nozzles were unobstructed. The engine driven fuel pump remained attached to the engine and was partially fire damaged. All fuel hoses forward of the fire were fire damaged.
The propeller remained attached to the crankshaft flange and the propeller spinner was crushed. The blades were marked A, B and C to differentiate between the three blades. Blade "A" was bent aft about 5 degrees, about 6 inches outboard of the hub. Blade "B" was curved aft about 10 degrees, about 18 inches outboard of the hub. Blade "C" was curved aft about 90 degrees, about 18 inches outboard of the hub. Blade "C" was fire damaged and partially melted. The propeller governor remained attached to the engine and the control cable remained attached to the governor control arm. The governor was removed and no debris was noted in the governor oil screen.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
An autopsy was performed on the pilot by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Decatur, Georgia. The autopsy report noted the manner of death as "multiple blunt trauma."
Toxicological testing was performed on the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Science Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Review of the toxicology report revealed that no drugs were detected in body cavity blood.
An autopsy was performed on the pilot rated passenger by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Decatur, Georgia. The autopsy report noted the manner of death as "multiple blunt trauma."
Toxicological testing was performed on the pilot rated passenger by the FAA Bioaeronautical Science Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Review of the toxicology report revealed that no drugs were detected in body cavity blood.
TEST AND RESEARCH
On June 7, 2013, the accessory case cover with oil filter mounting plate, hose fitting and oil hose were examined at the NTSB Materials Laboratory.
The fitting on the crankcase side of the hose was fractured. A bench binocular microscope examination of the hose revealed the fractured fitting contained a slant fracture that extended completely around the fitting. The fracture face exhibited a rough texture consistent with overstress separation with no evidence of fatigue cracking. An adapter was attached to the fractured fitting. The exposed end of the adapter contained an external thread. The external thread portion was covered with solidified metal. The mating internal threads located on the accessory case and accessory case in the general area of the internal threads was severely deformed from exposure to the post-crash fire. Close examination of the adapter revealed the corner adjacent to the external threads and in the area below the solidified metal contained material exhibiting size and contour consistent with a gasket.
http://registry.faa.gov/N4489F
NTSB Identification: ERA13FA256
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, May 27, 2013 in Macon, GA
Aircraft: PIPER PA-32R-300, registration: N4489F
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On May 27, 2013, about 1805 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300, N4489F, was destroyed following a collision with terrain while on approach to the Middle Georgia Regional Airport (MCN), Macon, Georgia. The airline transport pilot and one pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to a corporation and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Apalachicola Regional Airport (AAF), Apalachicola, Florida, destined for Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU), Greenville, South Carolina.
According to preliminary information obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot reported a slight loss in oil pressure and requested to land at MCN. The controller issued a clearance to MCN airport, put the aircraft on a 360 heading for a modified left base for a Visual Approach (VA) to Runway 23 and descended the aircraft to 3,000 feet. The air traffic controller advised pilot to expect a VA to runway 23 and issued both the wind and altimeter settings. Personnel at Robins Air Force Base (WRB), Warner Robins, Georgia, were also advised of the airplane’s position and the request to transition WRB airspace for landing at MCN, which was approved. After the pilot reported MCN in sight and approximately 5 miles south of MCN, the controller cleared pilot for the VA to runway 23. Before switching the aircraft to MCN tower the controller asked the pilot if "we could provide any further assistance" to the pilot to which the reply was "not at this time".
On initial contact with MCN, the pilot advised that his engine had stopped and he was not going to make it to runway 23. The MCN Local Controller (LC) offered runway 31 for a straight in approach; however, the pilot requested landing on runway 15 at WRB. The MCN LC coordinated with WRB and advised the aircraft to contact WRB tower. The pilot never established communication with WRB and crashed approximately .8 mile northeast of WRB, which was 3 miles southeast of MCN. Smoke was seen from WRB tower and verified by an airborne aircraft. First responders discovered the wreckage in a heavily wooded area approximately 20 minutes after the last radar and radio communications.
Gil Gilreath and his wife, Perry, have worked closely with the Community Foundation. He was killed in a plane crash on Monday. 
Authorities are working to remove wreckage from the site of a single-engine plane crash that killed two men in south Bibb County on Memorial Day.
Officials loaded the plane’s engine onto the back of a trailer Tuesday. Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigator was on-site but waiting for the airplane to be retried so he could inspect and document the damage.
The agency said the pilot had reported engine oil pressure problems. Unofficial copies of radar information show the airplane in just two minutes had fallen 4,900 feet -- nearly a mile -- at a rate of about 40 feet per second.
The men killed in the wreck were tentatively identified as Anthony Cabeza, 58, of Dutchman Court in Greer, South Carolina, and Julius Gilreath, 71, of Collins Creek Road in Greenville, South Carolina.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said he expects autopsies will be performed Wednesday or Thursday.
An Anthony “Tony” Cabeza is listed on LinkedIn as a corporate pilot and the owner of Pilot Services in Greenville.
The airplane, a Piper PA-32R-300 Cherokee Lance, was first authorized to fly in 1976. Owned by a company in Greenville, it crashed about one mile northeast of Robins Air Force Base around 6:05 p.m. Monday, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
The flight took off with two people on board from Apalachicola Municipal Airport in Apalachicola, Fla., and was headed for Greenville Downtown Airport in Greenville, South Carolina, Bergen said.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office got a call from Houston County 911 about 6:20 p.m. Monday saying that a plane went down near the Houston-Bibb line off Ga. 247 near Feagin Road.
Cabeza became licensed as an airline transport pilot nine years ago. He was licensed as a flight instructor 21 years ago.
The plane crashed in a swampy area off St. Clara Drive near Zora Place. The location is roughly in-line, and equally distant, from runways at Robins Air Force Base and the Middle Georgia Regional Airport.
It took nearly three hours for crews to get the bodies out of the plane.
The radar tracking information, provided by FlightAware.com, suggests the aircraft had been flying at 9,000 feet at 5:50 p.m. moving northeast. By 5:56 p.m., the plane was just 500 feet above the ground and moving west. A minute later, its direction changed to southeast, and the position never changed again.
The aircraft at one point reached 191 knots, or 220 miles per hour, according to the FlightAware data. It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday what the maximum allowed speed of that airplane is.
Holloway said the National Transportation Safety Board will collect information like the aircraft’s maximum speed, recordings of communications with air traffic control, and the radar track of the information.
While on-scene investigation work is typically completed within a few days, a full accident report typically takes 12 to 18 months, Holloway said.
Greenville businessman Julius "Gil" Gilreath was one of two men who died Monday in a plane crash in south Bibb County.
The plane, a Piper PA-32R-300 Cherokee Lance aircraft that was on its way from Apalachicola, Fla., to Greenville Downtown Airport when it crashed at 6:05 p.m. about a mile northeast of Robins Air Force Base, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
Bibb County coroner Leon Jones identified the two men as Gilreath, 71, and Anthony Cabeza, 58.
Joe Frasher, manager of Greenville Downtown Airport, where many corporate jets land and takeoff, said he knew both men.
Frasher said Cabeza had a reputation as a good pilot.
"I don't know what happened," Frasher said Tuesday. But, "it had to be catastrophic."
Hank Brown, who runs Greenville Jet Center at the Downtown Airport, said "Tony was an excellent pilot."
"He's been around for many, many years," he said.
On Tuesday, one of Gilreath's closest friends, Bo Aughtry, principal and president of the Windsor Aughtry Co. remembered him as a "just a very, very strong spirit, extremely intelligent, and extremely spiritual... a wonderful friend. He was just a very, very, very special individual.
"He was one of the most wonderful people I've ever known," Aughtry said.
Gilreath, a man Aughtry met probably 50 years ago, was a Greenville-based designer and builder, primarily of medical offices and facilities, who kept a low profile, said his friend and business partner.
Gilreath's father was a home builder. When his father died, Gilreath took over the family's home building business "but he evolved into development beyond that and really over time became primarily a medical oriented designer and builder," Aughtry said.
Aughtry said the first project he and Gilreath undertook as partners, along with Greenville businessman Tex Small, was the Commons Creek subdivision off East Parkins Mill Road.
"We were neighbors after that," Aughtry said of Gilreath. "He was a partner of mine in a number of things."
Gilreath, whose company was JAG (Julius A. Gilreath) Inc., was further described by Aughtry as a "very creative" person with a huge heart, and a care, a love and a respect for people.
Greenville, South Carolina --
Greenville businessman Julius “Gil” Gilreath was one of two men who died Monday in a plane crash in Georgia.
The plane, a Piper PA-32R-300 Cherokee Lance that was on its way from Apalachicola, Florida, to Greenville Downtown Airport when it crashed at 6:05 p.m. about a mile northeast of Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
Bibb County coroner Leon Jones identified the two men as Gilreath, 71, and Anthony Caveza, 58.
Joe Frasher, manager of Greenville Downtown Airport, where many corporate jets land and takeoff, said he knew both men.
Frasher said Caveza had a reputation as a good pilot.
“I don’t know what happened,” Frasher said Tuesday. But, “it had to be catastrophic.”
Hank Brown, who runs Greenville Jet Center at the Downtown Airport, said “Tony was an excellent pilot.”
“He’s been around for many, many years,” he said.
On Tuesday, one of Gilreath’s closest friends, Bo Aughtry, principal and president of the Windsor Aughtry Co. remembered him as a “just a very, very strong spirit, extremely intelligent, and extremely spiritual... a wonderful friend. He was just a very, very, very special individual.
“He was one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever known,” Aughtry said.
Gilreath, a man Aughtry met probably 50 years ago, was a Greenville-based designer and builder, primarily of medical offices and facilities, who kept a low profile, said his friend and business partner.
Gilreath’s father was a home builder. When his father died, Gilreath took over the family’s home building business “but he evolved into development beyond that and really over time became primarily a medical oriented designer and builder,” Aughtry said.
Aughtry said the first project he and Gilreath undertook as partners, along with Greenville businessman Tex Small, was the Commons Creek subdivision off East Parkins Mill Road.
“We were neighbors after that,” Aughtry said of Gilreath. “He was a partner of mine in a number of things.”
Gilreath, whose company was JAG (Julius A. Gilreath) Inc., was further described by Aughtry as a “very creative” person with a huge heart, and a care, a love and a respect for people.
“He was a community person in a quiet way that always did more than his share... always,” Aughtry said.
Gilreath’s community mindedness showed in his dedication to organizations like Christ Church Episcopal School, where he served on the board of trustees for several years, including two stints as board chair.
“Gil was a leader who served the school with great integrity, energy, generosity and compassion,” said CCES Headmaster Leonard Kupersmith. “He was an incredibly dynamic a guy, a person who was absolutely dedicated to the truth and incredibly generous to causes that he believed in.”
During his tenure at CCES, Gilreath oversaw the fundraising for and construction of a new middle school building that brought fifth and sixth grades to the Cavalier Drive campus from their previous home at the Christ Church Episcopal facilities downtown.
“That began a consolidation process that ultimately was resolved in 2002,” Kupersmith said. “Gil got that process started after 20 years of 7 through 12 being here.
“He was beloved,” Kupersmith added.
Gilreath was the kind of person who was involved in the community but often in a “behind the scenes” way, said Frances Ellison, who first met Gilreath in the carpool line at Christ Church. In addition to his service on the CCES board he was heavily involved in the civic minded Community Foundation of Greenville.
“There’s just nobody that I know who has a more generous spirit or a bigger heart,” Ellison said. “He sort of looked like a teddy bear and his spirit was like one.”
Ellison recalled a conversation she once had with Gilreath in which the two discussed the things they really needed to make them happy. Gilreath needed just a few.
“He loved the outside, he loved to hunt, he loved dogs, most of all he loved his family,” Ellison said. “He had really great values and more than most people I think he made a conscious effort to have his actions reflect those values.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash and determine probable cause, Bergen said.
http://www.greenvilleonline.com
Two men died in a single-engine plane crash in south Bibb County as Memorial Day activities were winding down Monday evening for many Middle Georgians.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said the bodies were recovered shortly before 9 p.m.
One of them was burned beyond recognition, he said.
The men are tentatively identified as Greenville, South Carolina, residents Anthony Caveza, 58, of Dutchman Court, and Julius Gilreath, 71, of Collins Creek Road.
A Piper PA-32R-300 Cherokee Lance, registered to an entity in Greenville, crashed about one mile northeast of Robins Air Force Base at 6:05 p.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
The flight took off with two people on board from Apalachicola Municipal Airport in Apalachicola, Florifa, and was headed for Greenville Downtown Airport in Greenville, South Carolina, Bergen said.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office got a call from Houston County 911 at about 6:20 p.m. Monday saying that a plane went down near the Houston-Bibb line off Georgia 247 near Feagin Road.
The plane crashed in a swampy area off St. Clara Drive near Zora Place.
Jones said the wreckage was about 500 yards off the road.
“It’s treacherous out there,” Jones said. “It’s rough. It’s logs. It’s trees. It’s very dangerous going out there.”
Houston County Emergency Management Agency Director Jimmy Williams said Houston County firefighters were the first on the scene and two units fought through the murky ground and swamp where mosquitoes and other bugs were swarming.
The Houston County crews were able to confirm that no one on board the plane survived the impact, Jones said.
Early reports indicated that two adults and a child were killed, but there was no child on board, Jones said after the bodies were recovered.
Once jurisdiction was established, Houston County turned the scene over to Macon-Bibb County firefighters, who tried for more than two hours to cut through the heavy brush.
Robins Air Force Base dispatched a large crash truck, and a Houston County light truck was brought in to illuminate the woods as the sun was beginning to set.
The recovery effort in the dense brush and clear-cut trees grew more complicated after snakes were spotted in the boggy terrain, Jones said.
Houston County firefighters warned him to watch out for the snakes.
“I’m scared of snakes, but I had to go back down there,” said Jones, who was dressed in white coveralls. Initially, he only made it about 300 yards into the brush and still could not see the plane, he said.
Just before 8:30 p.m., a bulldozer arrived from the Georgia Forestry Commission to cut a path through the woods so crews could get the necessary rescue equipment to the crash site.
It took nearly three hours for crews to get the bodies out of the plane.
A trio of hearses drove up about 7:45 p.m. just before Bibb deputies roped off St. Clara Drive to prevent private vehicles from making it close to the scene.
Ambulances from The Medical Center of Central Georgia and Mid Georgia Ambulance kept vigil on the country road.
At the beginning of the recovery effort, a Georgia State Patrol helicopter circled overhead to give rescuers a better idea of how to get to the plane.
Jones said they thought the chopper might be the best way to airlift the victims out, but they decided to go by land instead.
Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Public Affairs Officer Clay Williams was on the scene, but the Federal Aviation Administration has taken over the role of releasing information to the public.
Federal investigators are expected Tuesday to begin their probe to determine what caused the crash.
Local authorities will remain with the plane until the Federal Aviation Administration releases the scene.
