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Jet crash kills 5 after hitting utility pole, investigator say

Posted at 7:24 PM, Feb 21, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-21 19:25:35-05

By CNN Staff

(CNN) — Federal authorities said Thursday that a small plane that crashed in east Georgia had aborted its landing before striking a 60-foot utility pole, killing five people onboard.

The plane careened into a wooded area and erupted in flames, said National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt.

The light jet aircraft was headed toward the Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport in Thomson when it crashed Wednesday.

Two people survived the crash and were rushed to a hospital, McDuffie County Sheriff Logan Marshall told CNN affiliate WJBF.

The flight took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, Tennessee. The two cities are about 350 miles apart; Thomson is about 30 miles west of Augusta.

The crash sparked a fire and left nearby residents without power.

“It was like a boom,” resident Rhonda Bouthry told the station. “The power flickered on and off. It wasn’t off but about 20 minutes.”

The aircraft was a Hawker Beechcraft 390/Premier I.

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