DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Officials returned to the crash site at the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport on Saturday morning as the investigation continues into what caused a plane to crash, killing all four people on board.
The atmosphere at the airport was a much quieter scene than 24 hours earlier, when crowds watched in horror as a single engine Cessna plane caught fire on the runway.
A handful of people stood on the airplane viewing deck watching planes take off and land on Saturday.
Chuck Fritz, a 40-year veteran pilot, was one of them. He said hasn't been able to stop thinking about the crash since it happened.
"I still got the aviation in my bones because I had to come out here and see exactly where the wreck was," said Fritz.
Authorities say the single engine Cessna was departing from the airport when the crash happened. Witnesses told 11 Alive that the plane didn't get enough altitude after taking off and then attempted to come back down before crashing.
Fritz said he's been taking off out of the airport since the 1970s, and the news of the crash hits close to home.
"Those Cessna planes love to fly and it's a real sad thing," he said. "And I'm sorry for the people and I'll keep them in my prayers."
As of late Saturday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board had not released the identities of the pilot or passengers on board.
Flights and normal operations resumed at the airport Friday night.