Fatalities reported in private jet crash in North Carolina
Amanda Cockerham was driving on a nearby road when the plane crashed shortly after 10:15am on Thursday morning. “30 seconds sooner and it would have t-boned us
By Devon M. Sayers, Pete Muntean, CNN
(CNN) — Several people are dead after a small private jet crashed shortly after takeoff in Statesville, North Carolina, according to a local sheriff’s office official.
The crash happened shortly after 10:15 a.m., Iredell County Chief Deputy Bill Hamby told CNN. The exact number of fatalities is not known at this point, he added.
“A Cessna C550 crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina around 10:20 a.m. local time on Thursday, Dec. 18. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide any updates,” the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN.
CNN has reached out to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles north of Charlotte, is an uncontrolled airport with no control tower. Pilots are required to self-report their position on and near the airport using a common radio frequency.
Preliminary flight tracking data shows a Cessna Citation 550 left Statesville Regional Airport around 10 a.m. from runway 10, traveled about five miles, then made a near-immediate left turn back toward the airport. The plane did not climb higher than 2,000 feet, according to FlightAware.
Low clouds, light rain, and visibility of less than three miles were reported about 80 minutes after the crash, according to an automated weather station at the airport. It is not clear if these conditions were present when the plane crashed.
“The Statesville Regional Airport provides corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams,” according to the city website
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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