3 killed in Oconee County plane crash

OCONEE COUNTY, Ga. — Three people were killed after a plane crashed in Oconee County on Tuesday afternoon.

Deputies said a Piper PA-46 crashed in the area of Maxey and Elder roads around 3:45 p.m.

Investigators said the plane was traveling from Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina to the Tuscaloosa National Airport in Alabama when it went down about 10 miles southwest of Athens.

“I don’t want to speculate what the cause of the plane coming down was but we have had some significant weather incidents going on in the county,” said Capt. J. Hale with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.

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After crashing into a pasture about a quarter-mile off Elder Road, the plane ignited and other explosions were reported, the Sheriff’s Office said.

“Deputies said to me that they walked in the woods near my house and that there’s airplane parts all down in the woods, about a quarter mile off of Elder Road, so the plane was coming apart right there,” neighbor Andrew Brislin said. “It was going around, spinning around in circles.”

The FAA and NTSB have been called in to investigate.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this article.

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