A Cumming man was killed and a Flowery Branch man seriously injured in a plane crash near the Gainesville airport Saturday night.
Sgt. Kevin Holbrook of the Gainesville Police Department said Sunday morning the fatality was Robert Carlisle Alberhasky, 69. Mark Lewis, 69, was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville and "is believed to be in stable condition at this time."
Sgt. Holbrook said the plane, a 2015 Lancair International Legacy RG was registered to Alberhasky and he is believed to have been the pilot.
Holbrook had said Saturday night the single-engine plane crashed into an embankment off of Queen City Parkway near Aviation Boulevard about 7:30. He said the initial investigation shows that the plane was trying to land at the time.
"It struck some treetops prior to Queen City Parkway and then from there it struck a lighting antenna tower and then struck the ground from there," Holbrook said.
Holbrook said Saturday night two people were taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center with critical injuries. He later said that one of the two patients, an adult male, died of his injuries. No one else was on board the plane and no one on the ground was injured.
Queen City Parkway was closed for a time because of the incident as was Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport.
Holbrook said officials with the Federal Aviation Administration were on the scene by 10:00 Saturday night and investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive sometime Sunday morning.
(AccessWDUN's Caleb Hutchins contributed to this report.)
