2 dead in small plane crash in rural Georgia pecan orchard

AMERICUS, Ga. – Authorities say two people are dead after a small plane crashed in a pecan orchard in south Georgia.

Col. Eric Bryant of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office told reporters the crash Wednesday morning scattered debris over an area the size of a football field. He said officials are working to identify the two people aboard the plane who died.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the plane crashed right after it took off from nearby Jimmy Carter Regional Airport in Americus. That’s about 140 miles (225 kilometres) south of Atlanta. Bergen said the plane was a single-engine Cirrus SR22 aircraft.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are sending crash investigators to the scene.