3 Pilots die in Mississippi plane crash en-route to safety conference
A small plane crashed into a house in a modest Mississippi neighborhood late Tuesday, killing all three people aboard and injuring a resident of the home.
Mississippi plane crash photo ABC broadcoast coverage
The Piper PA-32 single-engine plane had just taken off from the Hawkins Field Airport in Jackson when it began to falter, authorities said.
The witness, a Jackson police officer, saw the plane sputtering like it was out of fuel.
The men on board were headed to a Federal Aviation Administration safety conference less than 30 miles away.
One of the aviators asked for permission to return to the airport, but just minutes later the plane went down.
It crashed through trees before slamming into a house that quickly caught fire, sending long flames and black smoke through the neighborhood of modest single-family homes surrounded by magnolia and oak trees.
WLBT reports two of the people on board as John Tilton Jr. and W.C. Young. The third pilot was not identified as this point.
Roger Latham, who is 15 hours away from getting his pilot’s license, told The Associated Press Tilton was his flight instructor.
“We had three great men who lost their lives,” he added. “I just want to wake up in a while and say, `This didn’t happen.”‘
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart confirmed three people died in the crash. She said dental records or DNA would be needed to confirm their identities.
Photo is a screenshot from the ABC coverage of the crash: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=8884600
