By Nick Watson
Update, Feb, 27: The victims have been identified as Dan Delnoce, 44, of Gainesville; Courtney Flanders, 45, of Gainesville; and Matthew Delnoce, 39, of Ohio, according to a Hall County Sheriff’s Office press release Saturday, Feb. 27.
The sheriff’s office “involvement in the case remains the ongoing death investigation,” the release says.
The bodies have been taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for autopsy. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are working other aspects of the crash.
Previous article: Three people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed in the Memorial Park Drive area of Gainesville, authorities said.
Hall County Fire Services Division Chief Zach Brackett said they received the call around 6:11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26. He said the plane crashed in a ravine around Titshaw Drive near Memorial Park Drive.
The fire department’s units were spread from the scene of the crash up to Atlanta Highway.
“Based on the direction of where the plane ended up and knowing that it started at Titshaw, you can tell it was trying to go back to the airport,” Brackett said.
The information from Federal Aviation Administration was that the plane was en route from Gainesville to Daytona Beach, Fla., with three occupants onboard. All three adult occupants were found dead, Brackett said.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office will be handling the death investigation.
Authorities are assessing any property damage in the area, including behind homes in the Catalina subdivision off Memorial Park Drive. Emergency vehicles filled a cul-de-sac off Luna Lane.
No one was hurt on the ground, Gainesville Fire Department spokesman Keith Smith said.
However, the plane’s wing crashed into the bedroom of a trailer off Cross Street, near Memorial Park Drive, while people were having dinner in the residence.
Four adults and one child were displaced after fuel landed on their residence, according to Hall Fire Services..
The residents were referred to the American Red Cross.
Memorial Park Drive at Cross Street is closed, and police are asking for drivers to take alternate routes.
Jeff Gill contributed to this report.
