Fatal plane crash reported at Nemacolin Woodlands
A small private airplane crashed shortly after taking off from the airport at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Wharton Township on Friday, leaving two dead and a third injured.
Jim Peters, spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said the crash occurred around 2:15 p.m., shortly after a Beechcraft BE36 took off from the resort’s private airstrip. Peters said three people were on board the craft.
The single-engine plane crashed just a couple hundred yards away from the runway, said Brian VanSickle, chief of the Farmington Volunteer Fire Department.
He said he and five other fire fighters were hunting nearby when they heard a plane, which sounded like it was experiencing engine trouble. They heard a crash and saw smoke, and went to the scene, he said.
“I was within several hundred yards,” VanSickle said.
The injured person made it out of the plane and was already in an ambulance when VanSickle arrived and was taken by medical helicopter to a hospital burn unit, he said.
VanSickle said he did not know the names or the genders of any of the people in the accident.
The crash occurred in a wooded area of the resort near the fairway of the 11th hole of the Links golf course.
Officials from the Fayette County coroner’s office conducted an investigation at the scene and state police were keeping the site secure for National Transportation Safety Board and FAA officials who were scheduled to arrive on Saturday to begin their investigation into the cause of the crash, VanSickle said.
In a statement, Nemacolin representatives said the crash occurred in a residential area adjacent to the golf course.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by this accident,” the statement read.
“The FAA will release the aircraft registration after local authorities notify family members about the condition of those on board,” Peters told the Associated Press. Every aircraft has a tail number, akin to a license plate number, that identifies the owner of the plane.
Firefighters from multiple departments have responded, and a fire initially reported seems to have been put out, according to reports from the scene.
A spokeswoman for the resort was gathering information on the crash and not immediately available for comment. According to its website, the resort has a 3,800-foot runway, suitable for smaller planes.