Fiery crash kills pilot and passenger when plane hits car dealership, Ohio cops say
UPDATE: The plane’s occupants were identified as Eric Seevers, 45, of West Virginia and Timothy Gifford, 49, of Ohio, according to an updated news release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The original story is below.
A plane crashed into a car dealership in Ohio, killing two occupants, police said.
Videos captured the fiery crash.
The plane crashed into the parking lot of the Pioneer Buick GMC Dealership in Marietta at 7:15 a.m. on Oct. 18, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a news release. The pilot and a passenger died in the crash, police said.
The cause of the crash and the number of passengers on the plane is unknown, and an investigation is ongoing, officials said.
The crash damaged multiple vehicles and buildings at the dealership but did not injure anyone on the ground, police said. The Marietta Times reported that eight cars were burned.
One witness posted a video of the fiery scene on Facebook.
“Something caught my eye with this plane before (the crash) even happened,” the witness said. “It was really bright in the sky and I kept looking at it. It was just going through the sky like nothing, and then did a million flips, went straight to the ground and exploded.”
Video from WOWK 13 showed flames and a plume of black smoke coming from the crash site.
Police said the plane was a 1974 Beechcraft King Air E90. The plane had twin engines and could seat up to 10 people, the Federal Aviation Administration told NBC 4.
The plane had taken off from the John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, at 6:39 a.m., an airport spokesperson told NBC 4. The flight was headed to the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in Wood County, West Virginia, an airport spokesperson told WTAP and The Marietta Times.
The victims’ identities have not been released.
Marietta is about 110 miles southeast of Columbus.
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