Pilot tried to return to airport before crash that killed 3

Debris landed on mobile home, but no one was injured.

The pilot of a small plane bound for Florida tried returning to the Gainesville airport Friday evening before crashing near a Hall County mobile home park, killing all three people aboard, officials said.

Debris from the single-engine Cessna 182 was strewn across the neighborhood Saturday morning. The plane crashed near Memorial Park Drive about 6 p.m., shortly after taking off from nearby Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport.

Dustin York was talking to his mother Friday evening when he heard a loud noise.

“It looked like he was trying to land safely, but it didn’t work out,” York told Channel 2 Action News. The plane passed over a mobile home before crashing into the tree line and falling into a ravine.

York ran to the mangled plane, hopeful he could help if there were any survivors.

“It was bad. There was nobody there, nobody left,” he said. “There was nobody to save, no one to help.”

Those aboard included Dan Delnoce, 44, of Gainesville; Courtney Flanders, 45, of Gainesville; and 39-year old Matthew Delnoce of Ohio, the Hall County Sheriff ’s Office said Saturday. They were on their way to Daytona Beach, flight records show.

Authorities have not said who was flying the plane, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

“He turned around for some reason and tried apparently to get back to the airport,” said Keith Smith, division chief of the Gainesville Fire Department. “We do not know for sure what happened.”

Wreckage landed on one mobile home, displacing four adults and a child.

“They were extremely lucky that nobody inside was hurt,” Smith said.