By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
GOLD HILL — The pilot who died Monday morning in a plane crash near Gold Hill Airport was a resident of the nearby airpark, an airport spokesperson said.
Authorities were not releasing the victim’s name Monday.
The man was flying a four-seater Socata Trinidad that left the airpark about 4 a.m. heading to Lancaster, Penn., according to airport personnel.
The plane crashed just minutes later, about a mile from the runway, authorities said.
A motorist on Old Beatty Ford Road, which travels just north of the runway near U.S. 52, saw the plane pass overhead about 4:20 a.m.
The plane then crashed into the woods, officials said.
The driver told dispatchers he didn’t hear anything but saw a plume of black smoke and thought the plane had gone down.
Gold Hill Fire Department was called to the scene, along with Liberty Fire Department, Rowan Rescue Squad and Rockwell Rural.
Firefighters started a grid search and found the wreckage shortly before 6 a.m. a quarter- to a half-mile off the road, north of Old Beatty Ford Road.
Frank Thomason, emergency services director, described the location of the plane as a “very heavily wooded area.”
The plane caught fire on impact, he said.
“It was completely destroyed,” Thomason said.
The body was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center.
The source at the airport, who asked not to be identified, said the Socata Trinidad Tobago belongs to a resident of the airpark, a runway surrounded by residences.
The pilot did file a flight plan before take off, the man said.
Officials notified the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, which will investigate the crash.
The FAA was on the scene Monday morning about 10:30 a.m.
Thomason said NTSB officials are expected to be at the crash site this morning.
It is unclear when they will begin clearing the wreckage, he said.