STOCKBRIDGE, Ga.-
A small plane crashed near a residential street Friday morning, killing three of the four people aboard after it apparently clipped a power line during takeoff, authorities said.
The single-engine Cessna went down shortly before 10 a.m., Henry County sheriff’s Lt. Randy Moore said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane appeared to have hit power lines as it took off. The wreckage lay near a residential street a few steps from a home’s driveway and just beyond the runway of Berry Hill Airport.
The plane was registered to Durwood C. Smith of McDonough, Ga., Bergen said.
Smith’s mother-in-law, Elsie Crocker, told The Associated Press that Smith, 63, and his wife, Patricia, 61, and two friends left to take the plane to St. Simons Island, between Brunswick and Savannah, for the day.
“They were going to have fun together. They’re such great friends,” Crocker said through tears.
Police said the Smiths and Linda Byrne, 60, were killed, while Bruce Byrne, 65, was taken to a hospital where he was listed in critical condition Friday night.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, Bergen said.
Stockbridge is about 20 miles southeast of Atlanta.
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