3 dead in small plane crash in western North Carolina mountains, officials say

MARION, NC – Three people were killed when a small plane crashed in western North Carolina, officials said Monday.

The McDowell County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement that rescue crews responding to a report of a missing small plane found the crashed plane near the Rutherford County border, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Asheville. McDowell County officials later confirmed that three people were killed in the crashed plane.

Three people were aboard the single-engine Cessna 182 when it crashed in the mountains near Rutherfordton, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead the investigation and provide further updates, according to the FAA, which is also investigating.

In a statement, the NTSB said preliminary information indicated the plane, which took off from Mountain City, Tennessee, bound for Rutherford County Airport, crashed on Sunday and the wreckage was found on Monday.

An NTSB investigator has traveled to the accident scene to document and examine the wreckage, officials said. The agency is expected to issue a preliminary report on the first phase of its investigation within 30 days, but a final report with a probable cause and any contributing factors is expected to take one to two years.