Plane departing Johnson County Airport goes down, kills three aboard

An aircraft owned by a South Carolina company crashed in neighboring North Carolina killing all three persons aboard.

According to preliminary reports from the National Transportation Safety Board, the plane departed the Johnson County Airport in Mountain City, Tennessee just before 8:30 p.m. Sunday night and then went off radar screens 28 minutes later.

The wreckage was found Monday around 6 a.m. in Nebo, North Carolina near the McDowell/Rutherford County line. Federal Aviation Administration info says the plane was registered to Airstar Aviation in Chester, SC. Search teams said they ran into fog and rough terrain while looking for the plane.

A statement released Monday evening by the South Carolina company says the data they received said the plane ran into unfavorable weather conditions after takeoff from Mountain City. It also said the plane operated in the Carolinas was leased by their company and contracted for work by the Skydive Mountain City to use for skydiving excursions.

Johnson County Airport manager Dave Garris told Asheville ABC affiliate WLOS he knew the pilot and noted the plane was an older Cessna aircraft.

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