COVINGTON, Ga. — A small plane crashed in a parking lot near an industrial plant east of Atlanta on Thursday evening, sending a plume of black smoke overhead, authorities and local news reports said.
Authorities said it appeared no one aboard the plane survived, according to local media. Police told news outlet WSB-TV that two people died. Crews had recovered one body as of late Thursday night, police told WAGA-TV.
“We are working on a lead to determine who the victims were in the crash,” Covington Police Capt. Ken Malcom said.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries to anyone on the ground.
Covington police told local reporters the aircraft crashed in an isolated parking lot near an industrial plant just off Interstate 20, a major east-west artery in Georgia. That community about 35 miles east of downtown Atlanta.
Police said the aircraft was a Cessna twin engine plane, WSB-TV reported. The news outlet said the plane came down about 300 yards (meters) from an industrial facility into four empty tractor-trailers. According to witnesses, the plane had departed from Covington Municipal Airport around 6:45 p.m., police said, according to the outlet.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the crash happened near an industrial building around 7 p.m.
“We don’t have additional information at this time,” said the FAA statement. It said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
The FAA added that more details would be released later after investigators verify the plane’s registration number at the scene.
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