Two people from North Carolina killed in fiery plane crash in Virginia, officials say

Two people from North Carolina were killed in a plane crash that sparked a brush fire in Virginia, officials said.

The small airplane crashed at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, in Suffolk, Virginia, with at least two people on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said in an email to McClatchy News. The aircraft, which transportation officials told WTKR was a Piper PA-28, was “fully engulfed in fire,” Virginia State Police said in a news release.

Two people died in the crash, Virginia State Police said. They have been identified as 54-year-old Christian Rask Fauchald and 53-year-old Eric John Bergevin. Virginia State Police did not say where in North Carolina the two were from.

The blaze sparked by the crash spread to “a large area of brush and trees” and was spreading quickly, threatening nearby homes, Suffolk Fire & Rescue said in a Facebook post.

“The fire is spreading across approximately 35 acres of open field and forest,” Suffolk Fire & Rescue said Saturday afternoon. “All residents affected have been safely evacuated.”

Just after 3:45 p.m. Saturday, fire officials said the blaze was under control.

Authorities are investigating the crash. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were scheduled to be on the scene Sunday, Jan. 8, Virginia State Police said. No other information, including what may have caused the crash, had been released as of the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 8.

Suffolk is near the North Carolina state line, about 40 miles southwest of Virginia Beach.

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