Two unnamed individuals — one fatally injured and one taken to a hospital — were found in a small private plane crash in Lafayette County on Thursday, March 30.
The Lafayette County Sheriff Department sent a press release Friday morning stating they received an alert at 9:36 p.m. Thursday from the Union County Sheriff’s Office that a private plane had not returned to the airport it had taken off from.
A location off County Road 249 was traced using a signal from a cellphone belonging to one of the plane’s occupants that was pinging at the time of the crash. A search of the area began at 9:42pm.
When the search team located the plane, one occupant was found dead. The second occupant, according to the press release, was found injured at 12:19 a.m. and transported to a hospital.
The release called the crash an ongoing investigation. The identities of the two individuals have not yet been released, pending notification of their families.
Lafayette County Sheriff Joey East told The Daily Mississippian he is unable to disclose any more information at this time, including the company of the private jet. He extended his praise to the Lafayette County and Union County sheriff’s departments.
“If not for everyone involved, we would not have located the second subject involved,” East said.
According to the press release, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration traveled to the crash site Friday morning and will be leading the investigation.
The release ends with the sheriff’s department extending their thoughts and prayers to the victim’s family and hopes for the second individual’s speedy recovery.
