Officials search for clues after deadly Cobb County plane crash
For the third time in less than six weeks, federal officials are investigating the scene of a deadly plane crash in or near metro Atlanta.
The latest incident was Friday evening in Cobb County, when a Cessna Citation I aircraft went down near a home in the 100 block of Vistawood Drive in Marietta, officials said.
The pilot, who has not been identified, was killed, officials said. No one else was on board.
The plane was en route to Fulton County Airport, according to FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. It took off from Cincinnati, Channel 2 Action News reported Saturday.
Federal investigators told Channel 2 the pilot reported an issue with the autopilot moments before the crash.
Flames from the crash spread to the home, setting it on fire, Channel 2 reported. The residents were at church at the time of the crash, and their identities were not released. No injuries were reported from the fire.
“From what it looks like at this point, it came over from the top of the house and landed in the front yard,” Danell Boyd of the Cobb County Fire Department told Channel 2.
The crash site is near Kennesaw State University’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium and Town Center at Cobb. Smoke was visible from the stadium.
Witnesses said the plane nose-dived to the ground, Channel 2 reported.
“I heard a swoosh and then a clap and an explosion and I pretty much knew before I looked outside that it was a plane crash,” said Joe Thomas, a resident in the area.
The neighborhood will be blocked off while National Transportation Safety Board investigators look into the crash.
On Feb. 16, a plane crash at the Barrow County airport killed two people on board.
On March 4, a pilot was killed when a plane went down near the Cherokee County airport.