Two people died in a private plane crash in North Carolina on Friday, March 14.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a Beechcraft Bonanza crashed near Pitt-Greenville Airport in North Carolina around 7:50 a.m. local time.
“Two people were on board. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide further updates,” the statement said.
North Carolina Highway Patrol Public Information Officer, Rico Stephens shared during a press conference that “upon arriving, a search was launched to see if any surviving people or passengers on board could be located [and] no passengers or no survivors were located.”
Stephens said that at this time, information about what happened and the survivors is “limited.”
“We’re in the process of investigating the scene and trying to identify the victims and make next-of-kin contact with the family. So I ask you to bear with us as we go through that process. I’m not going to put a time frame on it,” he said.
The Greenville Police Department also confirmed there were no survivors of the incident, sharing in a statement, “Sadly, there were no survivors. Investigators are still working to identify the individuals on board the plane. There were no other injuries.”
According to WITN, flight records showed that a Beechcraft Bonanza left the Pitt-Greenville Airport at 7:46 a.m. and was headed to Vero Beach, Fla.
Stephens said during the press conference that the plane was found in the yard of Consolidated Pipe and Supply, a pipe supplier, but there is no evidence that the plane hit the roadway.
“It’s a yard of a nearby business, just material there for the business and everything. Gravel yard surrounded by bushes,” said Stephens while describing the scene.
“Everyone near the crash area as far as the business is accounted for and no one else was hurt during the crash,” Stephens told reporters, adding that there was “no one at the business” when the incident occurred.
Later in the press conference, Pitt-Greenville Airport Executive Director Bill Hopper recommended flyers give themselves more time to get to the airport, but confirmed that airlines are still running. According to the Greenville Police Department’s statement, Memorial Drive, which was closed after the incident, has reopened and traffic can resume.
The National Transportation Board confirmed to PEOPLE that an investigator is en route to the scene and is expected to arrive tomorrow morning.
“Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation,” the organization said.
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PEOPLE reached out to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety for comment.
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