Three people were killed Friday after a single-engine plane crashed into a ravine outside of Atlanta, authorities said.
The crash occurred just after 6 p.m. Friday about 2 miles from the Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville, Ga., which is about 55 miles northeast of Atlanta, said Emma Duncan, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration.
It was not clear what led to the crash.
The Hall County sheriff’s office released the names of those killed: Dan Delnoce, 44, of Gainesville; Courtney Flanders, 45, of Gainesville; and Matthew Delnoce, 39, of Ohio.
Zachary Brackett, a spokesman for Hall County Fire Services, said fire officials were first to arrive near Memorial Park Drive at Atlanta Highway and discovered that a plane had crashed into a ravine.
The plane, a Cessna 182, was headed to Daytona Beach, Fla., Brackett said. A spokesperson with the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that the agency was leading the investigation into the crash. The FAA is helping in the investigation.
Keith Smith, chief of the Support Services Division with the Gainesville Fire Department, told news station Fox 5 Atlanta that it appeared that the pilot had reversed course after taking off.
He said it was “speculation at this point,” but the pilot “turned around for some reason and tried to apparently get back to the airport.” Smith also told reporters that part of a wing from the plane fell on a mobile home.
Fuel from the aircraft fell on another residence, Brackett said, displacing three adults and one child. They were not injured.