GORDON COUNTY, Ga. — Federal investigators say a small plane that crashed in the north Georgia mountains, killing all four people on board, broke up in the air after a pilot reported problems.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Wednesday that a pilot on the Feb. 8 flight from Falcon Field near Peachtree City to Nashville, Tennessee told an air traffic controller there was trouble with the autopilot.
A pilot also reported a problem with a flight instrument that indicates the aircraft's position relative to the horizon.
The plane was on what was listed as a training flight, the report stated.
Roy Smith was the pilot and Ray Sluk was the co-pilot. Roy Smith's son, Morgen, 25, was also on board with his girlfriend Savannah Sims, 23.
The sheriff said that the airplane wreckage was found more than three miles off the nearest major road and had to be accessed on foot or by all-terrain vehicles. The bodies of the four victims were all located the next day.
The daughter of Roy and brother of Morgen took to Facebook to share her grief.
"I don’t know what exactly to say here besides I’ve lost three of the most incredible people in my life," Savannah Baynham-Smith wrote. "I can’t imagine a life without any of them. My heart is so broken."
Sims' family tells 11Alive that Savannah will be missed for her bright personality, baking desserts, and unconditional love. They describe her as "outgoing" and "charismatic."
Sims was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1996. She attended Flowery Branch High School and just graduated in May from Georgia State University.