UPDATE: Four Dead in Plane Crash on I-285

By Justin Ove

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Four people were killed Friday morning when a small plane crashed in the median along Interstate 285 eastbound in Dunwoody.

According to WSB-TV, the aircraft had just taken off from Peachtree-DeKalb Airport when it came down on I-285 eastbound near the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard interchange.

The aircraft had just taken off from Peachtree-DeKalb Airport when it came down on I-285 eastbound near the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard exit. The pilot had an issue on takeoff and said “we’re going down” over the radio just before the crash, the station reported. 

Dr. Cedric Alexander, DeKalb County’s police chief, said that the passengers of the plane were three men, a woman, and a pet, WSB-TV reports. Asheville, North Carolina-based WLOS reports the victims are Greg, Christopher and Phillip Byrd of Biltmore Forest, North Carolina, and Jackie Kulzer.

WSB-TV reports Kulzer, a graduate of St. Pius X Catholic School in Atlanta, and Christopher Byrd were engaged to be married.

The FAA tells WSB-TV that the crashed aircraft was a Piper PA-32 that took off from runway 3 right. Data from FlightAware.com show that the only Piper PA-32 scheduled to take off from the airport at the time of the accident carries a registration number of N5802V.

N5802V was scheduled to reach Oxford, Mississippi, at 11:53 a.m., but FlightAware lost track of the aircraft at 10:04 a.m. The FAA has confirmed that the plane that crashed was heading to Oxford, making N5802V the most likely candidate.

NTSB investigator Eric Alleyne said during a press conference that the wreckage of the aircraft was being collected and transported to Griffin for further examination. Alleyne said he planned to have the remains of the aircraft re-assembled in two weeks, but a full report on the accident could take anywhere from six months to one year.

Alleyne told reporters that he had a “laundry list” of factors, such as maintenance records and the pilot’s flight experience, that he typically looks for when investigating a plane crash. However, he added that he won’t have any specific theories to focus his investigation on until he gets the plane re-assembled in Griffin.

I-285 in both directions were shut down for hours. I-285 westbound re-opened at approximately 1 p.m., WSB-TV reports, and I-285 eastbound opened around 3:20 p.m.

Return to Patch for updates.

Photo credits: DeKalb County Fire Rescue/Dunwoody Police Department