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3 July 2023
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – Four people were killed and another seriously injured in a small plane crash in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday, according to a report from the Federal Aviation Administration.
It isn’t yet clear what caused the Sunday morning crash, which happened northwest of the Grand Stand Airport. The FAA previously said four people were aboard the plane.
The plane took off at 11:02 a.m. and crashed a minute later, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. The site lists a Friday flight as the plane’s most recent trip, which included departing from Essex County Airport in New Jersey and landing at Grand Stand Airport.
The plane, a PA-32R-300 model, is registered to New Jersey resident Joseph T. Farnese, according to FlightAware. Authorities haven’t said whether Farnese was aboard the plane.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are still on the scene, police say.
Tyler Petucci, who was staying at the nearby Barefoot Resort & Golf Club, told Nexstar’s WBTW he and his brother were sitting in their living room when they heard a loud boom.
“We didn’t know what it was, and then people start running around everywhere, and I kinda knew it wasn’t normal, so we start running out,” Petucci explained. “We see the smoke coming from behind the house … We ran around the back of the house, and it was just engulfed in flames. No one really knew what it was at first.”
Petucci said they followed the flames to the crash site.
“We didn’t really wanna go too close because it started exploding,” he said. “And we weren’t really sure what was going on. Then, people started saying it was a plane, and they saw the plane, and it was really close to hitting some of the houses.”