WATKINSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A small plane crashed Tuesday in Georgia’s Oconee County.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a single-engine airplane crash about 5 p.m., authorities said. There was no immediate word on whether anyone was killed or injured. Sheriff Scott Berry declined to comment about the status of the person or persons aboard.
In a Facebook post, the sheriff’s office said there were “secondary explosions” where the plane went down in some woods west of Watkinsville.
“It’s deep in the woods and we’ll be busy here for a while,” Berry said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a Piper PA-46 crashed 10 miles (16 miles) southwest of Athens around 4:35 p.m. Officials said air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft while it was over Oconee County. The plane was coming from the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina and headed to the Tuscaloosa National Airport in Alabama, the FAA said.
The FAA will investigate the crash and that the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause, authorities said.