2 North Carolina men die in plane crash near Asheville, state troopers say
Two men died when a plane crashed Wednesday morning in a North Carolina cornfield, state troopers say.
Malachy Dady Beckham Jr., 76, and John Thomas Gaitskill, 72, were killed after a single-ending plane went down in Buncombe County, WHNS reports.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol says the men are from western North Carolina and were the only two on the plane, according to the station.
The men were “licensed flight instructors,” WYFF reports.
Debris from the crash was found in Fairview, about 11 miles southeast of Asheville, according to WSPA.
The plane was described as a “Rans S-6 Coyote II light sport aircraft,” Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told McClatchy in an emailed statement.
The FAA said it would investigate the crash, which happened near Six Oaks Airport, according to Bergen.
The agency says the National Transportation Safety Board “will determine the probable cause of the accident.”
An initial report on the crash could take longer than a week, WYFF reports.
This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 11:57 AM with the headline "2 North Carolina men die in plane crash near Asheville, state troopers say."
