Small plane crashes in I285

[ramseycat]

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. —
WSB-TV
A small plane crashed minutes after take off in DeKalb County, smashing into the interstate and killing four people.

The plane crashed onto I-285 east at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard just after 10 a.m.

Traffic reopened on westbound lanes three hours later, but eastbound lanes remain closed Friday afternoon..

DeKalb County police’s Dr. Cedric Alexander said there were 3 men, a woman and a pet onboard the plane.

Channel 2's Mark Winne says a source told him the pilot "calmly" reported an issue "climbing out" and said "hey, we're going down."

Witnesses say they felt the impact of the plane crash on the interstate, but somehow the pilot avoided hitting any vehicles.

"The impact was large, like a bomb being dropped," said witness Don McGee.

Another witness, Blake Green, says the plane propeller flew off on impact. He said the impact sounded like a bomb.

The FAA tells Channel 2 Action News it was a Piper PA-32 aircraft that went down after departing from Runway 3 Right. It was flying to Oxford, Mississippi.


Channel 2's Aaron Diamant reports the plane is owned by LLC in Asheville, North Carolina. The plane may have been a refueling stop at PDK.

Triple Team Traffic's Mark Arum says sources tell him the interstate may be closed for at least 8 hours.

Traffic is being impacted across metro Atlanta on I-285, I-85 and Ga. 400.

All inner loop traffic on I-285 is being diverted on to Ga. 400.

NewsChopper2's Jason Durden says drivers should use I-75 north to Brookwood to I-85 north and vice versa to avoid the area.


Mark Arum says authorities are allowing tractor trailers to use the Downtown Connector due to the traffic situation.

Captain Eric Jackson with DeKalb County fire says the plane nearly hit two vehicles before crashing but no one on the ground was injured.

There are NTSB agents on the ground and they are beginning their investigation.

DeKalb County Schools said they would extend the school day where necessary to make sure every child is picked up by a bus or a parent.


We have multiple crews at the scene and PDK Airport – Watch Channel 2 Action News beginning at 4 live, Team 2 Coverage of the breaking news.

[Duchess]

Horrible. Poor people, poor pet :(

[ramseycat]

Holy shit. It's awful. The video and pictures and interviews with the witnesses is just horrific.

[ramseycat]

A father and his three sons and one of the boys fiancées died. It's so sad.

[Blindgreed1]

A father and his three sons and one of the boys fiancées died. It's so sad.

From the sound of it they didn't suffer.

[Midwest Spy]

A father and his three sons and one of the boys fiancées died. It's so sad.

From the sound of it they didn't suffer.

From the images I saw it's hard to believe 4 people were in the wreckage.

[Donovan]

I am carefully resisting the urge to make wildly inappropriate jokes at the expense of this poor family. I must be in a fucking evil mood.

[Maggot]

I am carefully resisting the urge to make wildly inappropriate jokes at the expense of this poor family. I must be in a fucking evil mood.

What was the last thing that went through their mind?

[Donovan]

Besides the fuselage?

[Donovan]

I was thinking how nice it was that they got to spend their last moments on earth bonding with each other...


and the plane...


and the pavement...


and the seat in front of them...

(Maggot started it!)

[Maggot]

Sure .........blame the sociopath!

[ramseycat]

I went down yo Atlanta tonight and drove right by the crash site. It gave me chills.

[Cutz]

That sucks. I wonder if the pilot was trying to land on the interstate like he'd seen in the movies. I can't imagine sitting in that traffic parking lot for 3 hours (or way more the other direction) and bitching and complaining the whole time, then find out later that it was a plane crash and 4 people died. I hope the pet was a rat cause if it was a cute dog, that makes me sad. My golden went to live at the farm last week and we miss him terribly already.

[HairOfTheDog]

A dead cat would be sad too.

A dead dog would be a little more sad than a dead cat though; mostly because the cat might well have a few spare lives on hand.

I think a dead rat would be the least sad; so long rat. But I can't decide whether the next to the least sad would be a parakeet, a goldfish, or a Chia-Pet.


(Seriously, it's sad that the OP family and pet died, RIP. I'm glad nobody else died when the plane crashed.)

[ramseycat]

It was the family dog.

[Duchess]

They were on their way to one of the other son's graduation.











The plane clipped this truck -