(The following article by Justin Boulmay was posted on the Rocky Mount Telegram website on October 23.)
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — A single-engine plane crashed Sunday in the CSX train yard on South Church Street, killing the two people on board.
The names of the two victims, a male and a female, are expected to be released today, said Rocky Mount Fire Division Chief of Operations David English. They were not released on Sunday because the Rocky Mount Police Department was notifying the next of kin, who English said might reside in the Wilson area.
English did not know how the two victims were related to each other or where they were from.
“They have been identified, and the release of names will be pending the notification of kin,” English said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, with the FAA assisting, said Kathleen Bergen, external communications director for the FAA.
The plane originated in Beaufort, S.C., and crashed about 3:30 p.m. near Adams Wholesale Co. Food Distributors on South Church Street. The single-engine, propeller-driven Cessna Skylane was registered to Performance Aviation in Wilson, Bergen said.
Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport officials reported that the plane tried to land twice but was not able to, English said. The airport lost contact with the plane after the second landing attempt.
English did not know why the plane missed its landing site or the exact nature of the pilot’s calls to the airport. He also could not comment on whether the pilot tried to land on the railroad tracks after attempting to land at the airport.
“I’m not sure, not being familiar with planes,” he said.
The fire department received the 911 call at 3:36 p.m., English said. When firefighters arrived at the scene, English said they found debris strewn across the railroad tracks. The plane, which he said sustained “extensive damage,” was on fire, with flames rising as high as 30 feet in the air. The fire department put it out.
“The plane was consumed in fire – total flames,” he said.
The plane crashed near two industries, but English said the situation was assessed and hazardous materials were not a concern.
“Certainly if we’d had any damage to adjacent properties, there is a potential that hazardous materials could have been involved,” he said. “Certainly the plane has fuel on it. We’ve already checked that, and there’s not any leakage of anything that could be causing problems as hazardous materials at this time.”
One resident, Shirley Greer, 49, said she heard an explosion from her parents’ house on the 200 block of Nashville Road. She went outside to see what had happened, and saw a pillar of black smoke coming up from behind the Adams warehouse.
“The first thing I thought, they had some chemicals inside and something had exploded,” she said.
The crash impacted the traffic flow on the CSX railroad, which is a major north-south traffic route, English said. Trains are being directed to a side rail, but the other tracks will reopen at a later time.
The FAA is working with a private contractor, AirCare, based out of Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport, to move the debris off the tracks, but not away from the scene.
“The FAA is aware that this is a main north and south rail route, and they are aware of that,” English said.
English, who has been with the department for 26 years, said the crash was not as bad as it could have been, especially in an industrialized area.
“Certainly, when you hear a report of a plane crash, you prepare yourself for the worst,” he said. “This scene was bad, but it could have been much worse.”