DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A child and an adult were hurt in a single-engine plane crash while leaving DeKalb-Peachtree Airport on Thursday, according to the fire department.
Officials said that the two were on the plane and were not hurt badly in the Feb. 16 crash. A DeKalb County Fire official said the plane did not catch fire during the impact.
The plane was a single-engine Piper PA-28 and was doing a training exercise. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the two passengers crashed after taking off from the airport around 2:40 p.m.
DeKalb-Peachtree Airport is the second busiest airport in the Atlanta metro, after the world's busiest airport Hartsfield-Jackson International. Ryan Sullivan, who is a pilot and saw the crash, said the fact the plane managed to maneuver to a safe area is why the passengers were able to walk away after the scare.
"It lost complete power, turned back to try and make an emergency landing," Ryan Sullivan, who is a pilot and saw the crash said. "It landed right on the runway. It's really tough to do that."
John Lemarr is a bartender at the airport's 57th Fighter Group restaurant. He said he saw the tail end of the crash and spoke with the child's father shortly after it happened.
"A gentleman here at the restaurant was waiting on his son. He actually broke down on my shoulders and it was pretty traumatic because he wasn't sure about -- he knew his son was on that plane," Lemarr said.
Officials did say that neither passenger was badly hurt but they were taken to the hospital to get checked out.
The department did not release the names of anyone involved and did not say how the crash happened. The FFA and National Transportation Safety Board will complete an investigation and provide updates.
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