MORGANTON, Ga. – Military investigators were expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon in north Georgia at the scene where a Navy plane crashed in dense woods, killing at least three crew members.
The Florida-based T-39N Sabreliner just missed a house when it crashed Monday afternoon and authorities were looking for a fourth person believed to be aboard, officials said. Fannin County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Keith Bosen said Tuesday that officials have yet to determine whether the fourth aviator had survived.
Naval Air Station Pensacola spokesman Harry White said authorities had not confirmed whether the pilot was among those killed when the training plane went down. No one on the ground was injured, he said.
The plane was part of Training Air Wing 6, which conducts routine cross-country missions through Fannin County, where it crashed, about two hours north of Atlanta, on the edge of the North Carolina and Tennessee borders, White said.
Searchers found three bodies and Bosen said there was no evidence that a parachute had deployed. The twin-jet plane can carry two pilots and seven passengers, according to a Navy Web site.