Plane crash victims on way to Ole Miss graduation - USA TODAY
DORAVILLE, Ga. — Four people, including a former sheriff's deputy, died Friday when a small plane crashed on Interstate 285 in suburban Atlanta. The plane that businessman and former deputy Greg Byrd, 53, of Asheville, N. C. , was flying went down at around 10 a. m. ET near Peachtree Industrial Boulevard here. The Piper PA-32 aircraft took off from Runway 3Right at DeKalb Peachtree Airport then crashed about a mile away, said spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration. It arrived around 9:15 a. m. from Asheville, N. C. , where the plane was based. Also in the plane were Byrd's two sons — Phillip Byrd of Asheville and Christopher Byrd of Atlanta — as well as Christopher Byrd's fiancée, Jackie Kulzer of Atlanta. The two Atlanta residents had boarded the plane at DeKalb Peachtree Airport. The plane was clearly in distress, said witnesses, many who slammed on their brakes on the highway to avoid what was developing. You could see him trying to get the nose of the plane up. It was edging up, and then it just dropped," said motorist Don McGhee, 48, who saw the aircraft nearly hit a traffic light pole near the highway on ramp. The plane had just refueled, said Eric Alleyne, a National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator. The small plane has no black box, he said, only an emergency locator transmitter that was not needed. Source: www.usatoday.com
