HOPE MILLS—Authorities in North Carolina say a small plane crashed into a home, killing two people and injuring another.
A release from the State Highway Patrol says the single-engine civilian plane went down shortly before midnight on Thursday in Hope Mills.
The pilot and an occupant of the home died at the scene, while another occupant of the residence was hospitalized with serious injuries.
This is the closest that we’re able to get to the scene. The plane crash is just beyond this crime scene tape and that utility vehicle. Neighbors tell us they heard the plane sputtering before it crashed into a home. One person inside killed along with the pilot #abc11 pic.twitter.com/lLE4AxKnMx
— Morgan Norwood (@MorganABC11) June 28, 2019
Aerial images from news helicopters show a home surrounded by yellow police tape with nearly half its roof smashed in and debris scattered around the residential lot.
Eyewitnesses told WTVD-TV they heard the plane’s engine making sputtering noises. Jennifer Kelton’s family was having dinner when they heard the plane pass, followed by an explosion.
“It was a double-wide modular home, and it (the plane) came in and it took the whole back of the house out,” eyewitness Kenny Oxendine told WTVD-TV.
“I never heard anything that loud,” Jennifer told the station. “It really did buzz over the roof.”
LIVE: 2 dead, 1 seriously injured after small plane crashes into Hope Mills home: https://t.co/dRSopqLOiG
— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) June 28, 2019
The home is in the vicinity of U.S. Highway 301, less than 5 miles southwest of the Fayetteville Regional Airport. Nearby are several businesses along with homes on other residential streets.
No identities have been released and the cause of the crash is under investigation.
2 North Carolina men die in plane crash near Asheville, state troopers say https://t.co/Jc0eYIihbC pic.twitter.com/X6XP8LoCrS
— Charlotte NC (@MetroCharlotte) June 27, 2019
Troopers and Cumberland County deputies were awaiting federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration as of early Friday.
NTD News staff contributed to this article.
