Feds pull ‘black box’
The pilot died when the small plane he was in crashed into a Marietta neighborhood Friday evening after experiencing an autopilot failure, federal investigators say.
— Federal investigators have recovered a bright orange data recorder, often referred to as a “black box,” after the fiery crash of a small plane into a Marietta neighborhood that killed the pilot.
WSB-TV reports that federal investigators said at a Saturday briefing that the pilot told air traffic controllers before the crash that he was having an issue with the airplane’s autopilot feature.
The Cessna Citation I crashed next to a house Friday evening in the Piedmont Hills neighborhood located near Bells Ferry Road at about 7:30 p.m. One home was engulfed in flames and the home next door also caught fire when the plane exploded, according to Denell Boyd, spokeswoman for the Cobb County Fire Department.
The residents were not in their home when the plane landed in the front yard and no one on the ground was hurt, Boyd said.
Rick Breitenfeldt, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, said it happened about 3 miles from Cobb County International Airport. The pilot, who was en route to Fulton County Airport, reported he was having trouble before crashing, according to Karl Von Hagel, Cobb’s airport manager.
The jet was silent as it spiraled down, said neighborhood resident Kathy Williams. She saw the plane instantly blow up when it hit the ground.
“There were no engines. There was no noises,” Williams told the Marietta Daily Journal.
Resident Peter Coke said he was outside when he saw the jet flying from the north. It seemed to be flying perpendicular to the ground. Then, the plane took a nosedive, Coke said.
“We were running,” said neighborhood resident Todd Nieder, adding they did not know where the plane was going to land.
Resident Morgan Williams said she was in her room about a block from the crash site when the incident happened.
“My entire room shook,” said Morgan Williams, a sophomore at Lassiter High School.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.