McMillan Abernethy, Justin Strauss | Two dead in the crash of a Piper PA-28 in North Carolina: a flight instructor and his student

SILER CITY, N.C. (WTVD) – A bright yellow bouquet of flowers stands at the Raleigh Executive Jetport near Sanford on Monday in honor of McMillan Abernethy, a flight instructor from Beech Mountain who was killed along with a student pilot in a plane crash in Chatham County on Friday.

“It’s a tragedy,” said Noah Gunter.

Gunter, a maintenance technician, said he was refueling the plane they were flying from Raleigh Executive Jetport to Siler City before it crashed into trees and caught fire about a mile from Siler City Municipal Airport on Friday afternoon.

The FAA said the plane, a Piper PA-28, had engine problems.

“It came very suddenly,” said Gunter. “I was hoping they were OK and when I found out that they had unfortunately died, I was really shocked.”

North Carolina has seen at least five plane crashes this year, mostly involving small aircraft. Gunter says aviation safety has improved significantly, but there are things in this industry that are out of control.

“They’re well maintained … and they’re still a very safe airplane to practice and fly to your destination,” Gunter said of the Piper PA-28. “Some things are just unavoidable.”

Gunter said Abernethy was an “honest guy” who always enjoyed talking about aviation.

“He was always just catching up, seeing how things were going and really making progress in his flying career,” he said.

A person who answered the door of student pilot Justin Strauss’s Raleigh home on Monday declined to comment to ABC11.

“We think it’s terrible that they’re both gone,” said Gunter.