Pilot Credited For Skills in Backyard Plane Crash

The pilot of a plane that crashed into a Lawrenceville back yard Tuesday afternoon is being credited with preventing any deaths or serious damage to homes in the crash.

Gwinnett County fire officials say the single-propeller aircraft clipped the roof of a home where residents were inside on its way down, knocking some shingles loose.

But the pilot was able to avoid directly hitting homes in the residential neighborhood -- on the 1600 block of Amhearst Mill Drive NE -- and power lines that were in the vicinity.

“We are fortunate that there was no catastrophic damage or loss of life,” said Gwinnett County Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge.

Police and fire crews found the plane, a Piper PA-28, on its side with both wings sheared off.

Josh Frazier told WXIA-TV that his wife Crystal and two daughters were inside the home that was grazed by the plane. He told the station he found a wing of the plane lying beside his house.

“My daughter’s bedroom is right there,” Frazier said. “The wing could have easily landed in her room while she was asleep.”

The pilot is a man in his mid-20s from Duluth, according to police, and his passenger was a male teen from John’s Creek. Police say the pilot’s injuries were minor and that the passenger was ”semi-conscious” when rescue workers arrived.

Both were taken to Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville. Authorities are not releasing their names, citing medical privacy laws.

Federal aviation and transportation officials were continuing to investigate the cause of the crash on Wednesday. The plane had a half-full tank of gas at the time of the crash, authorities said.