The plane that crashed near the Blairsville airport in December, killing three people and leaving another critically injured, was returning to the airport after a sight-seeing trip when it struck some trees near the airport.
That's according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane went down December 19 about 7:35 p.m., about an hour after taking off on a Christmas light sight-seeing trip.
The pilot and two of his three passengers, all from Blairsville, died in the crash.
"A witness stated she was on her front porch when she saw the lights of the airplane approaching the airport," according to the report. "The airplane's engine was running smoothly (no knocking or sputtering), but it sounded as if the airplane was lower to the ground than normal. The witness heard the airplane impact trees and then the ground. She said the airplane was not going very fast and appeared to be on a normal glidepath to the runway, but it was 'just too low.' The witness went inside her home and called 911."
The report says the initial impact was with a group of 60- to 70-foot-tall trees located about a half-mile from the end of the runway.
The plane was a four-passenger Piper PA-28-181, which was owned by the pilot.
Click here to read the full NTSB report.
Click here to read an earlier story about the crash.
