A fatal plane crash at First Flight Airport, within the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, claimed five lives on Saturday, September 28, 2024. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a single-engine Cirrus SR22 aircraft, carrying four adults and one child, crashed around 5 p.m. during an attempted landing.
Eye-witness reports, according to the National Park Service, indicated that the aircraft plunged into a nearby forested area and caught fire immediately. Images shared on Outer Banks Facebook groups depicted smoke billowing high above the tree canopy, visible from miles away.
Firefighters from the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and neighboring units arrived swiftly at the scene to put out the fire. However, the damage was extensive. Drone footage taken the following day revealed the severity of the destruction, obscured somewhat by the thick forest in the vicinity. The National Park Service announced that the Wright Brothers National Memorial would be closed on Sunday due to the crash.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are looking into the incident. The precise cause of the crash is still unknown, but investigators are gathering evidence and conducting interviews to ascertain what led to the accident.
Before the accident, the plane had departed from Pinehurst, NC, and made stops in Ocracoke and Manteo.
The Wright Brothers National Memorial has experienced a number of aviation-related incidents in the past, including minor crashes and emergency landings.
The crashed Cirrus SR22, a single-engine plane recognized for its advanced safety features including a parachute system, was registered to Pantheon Aviation LLC, a private owner. The victims were identified as Shashwat Ajit Adhikari, 31, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Jason Ray Campbell, 43, Southern Pines, North Carolina; Kate McAllister Neely, 39, of Southern Pines, North Carolina; Matthew Arthur Fassnacht, 44, of Marietta, Georgia; and a 6-year-old child, whose name was not provided. The investigation into the crash is expected to continue for several weeks.
