The names of four people who died when a small jet crashed in the mountains of north Georgia on Saturday are now known. The authorities revealed their identities on Tuesday.
The deceased are 68-year-old Roy Smith of Fayetteville who was the pilot, his 25-year-old Atlanta-based son Morgen Smith, 23-year-old Savannah Sims of Atlanta, and co-pilot Raymond Sluk, a 63-year-old resident of Senoia.
Federal investigators said the Cessna 501 Citation crashed just after 10 a.m. in a remote part of Gordon County, northwest of Atlanta.
The plane that was destined for Nashville, Tennessee went missing from radar soon after it took off from a suburban airport in Peachtree City, Atlanta.
There were reports of snow in the area around the time the aircraft lifted off. The plane crashed in a wooded area that could only be accessed by foot and ATV. This increased the time it took to reach the victims.
Mitch Ralston of the Gordon County Sheriff’s Department said the search party had a good idea of where to look based on where the plane went off the radar. He said local landowners on ATVs were looking and they stumbled across the wreckage.
Air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, Heidi Kemner, said in the coming days and weeks, investigators will look at a number of factors including weather conditions.
Meanwhile, NTSB spokesman Terry Williams said they will also look at the pilot’s training and record and the maintenance of the aircraft.
A preliminary report on the findings is expected in ten days but the full factual report won’t be ready for another 18 months.
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