By Jorge Quiquivix
IZARD COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) – Izard County residents called 911 Monday after they saw a plane flying low and heard a crash shortly after, according to Office of Emergency Management Director Gary Dickerson.
Dickerson said his office got the call around 2 p.m. that a plane had gone down in the small town of Franklin.
The Memphis International Airport notified local authorities, including Dickerson, about an emergency beacon coming out of that plane that was heading from the Baxter County Airport in Mountain Home to the Walnut Ridge Regional Airport.
Emergency crews found the wreckage in a wooded area about 75 yards north of California Drive.
Dickerson added crews removed 2 male bodies from the wreckage and turned them over to the local coroner.
The victims’ names haven’t been released.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed the aircraft to be a 1978 Piper PA-38 Tomahawk, with 2 seats and one engine owned by the Arkansas Pilot Development in Lonoke, Ark.
Region 8 News has reached out to APD Systems about the crash but hasn’t heard back.
The scene has been cleared but there is a perimeter set and to secure and continue the investigation Tuesday.
As of 7:45 p.m., Dickerson said they didn’t know what caused the plane to crash.
Flight records show the aircraft landed at the Baxter County Airport in Mountain Home Monday morning after flying out of Carlisle Municipal Airport in Lonoke County around 10 a.m.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Arkansas State Police have taken over the investigation.
https://www.kait8.com/2020/11/30/males-killed-after-plane-crashes-izard-co/
