UPDATE AUG 12, 11:25 A.M.: Marion County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jason Bearden confirms that there were no survivors after a small plane crashed in Metz Thursday night.
Bearden said that at around 7 p.m., the sheriff’s office was informed of a downed plane, and about 50 minutes later, Mannington and Monongalia County volunteer firefighters found a detached wing near Campbell’s run. Then, at around 8:20 p.m., Bearden said the other wing and the fuselage was found on a steep incline in a heavily wooded area.
The pilot and two passengers were inside the fuselage, deceased, according to Bearden.
Bearden said the sheriff’s office is now playing a secondary role as the Federal Aviation Administration investigates the crash.
ORIGINAL AUG 12, 9:45 A.M.: METZ, W.Va. (WBOY) — Three people were killed in the small plane crash Thursday evening in Metz, a small community just north of Mannington in Marion County, according to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report.
The FAA Accident and Incident Notification about the crash lists that one flight crew member and two passengers were killed, and that the aircraft model was a Piper PA32.
The cause of the crash is currently listed as “unknown circumstances” and says that the aircraft was destroyed.
Though the cause of the crash has not yet been determined, Stormtracker 12’s radar at the time of the crash did show severe weather at the time of the crash.
The Accident and Incident Notification also lists the registration number of the plane. FlightAware shows that just after 6 p.m., the plane started to descend quickly before updates stopped. That data shows the plane took off in Washington, Indiana at 3:43 p.m. EDT. FlightAware also logged a flight the plane took from Myerstown, PA to Washington, Indiana on Thursday morning.
An FAA Aircraft Inquiry of the registration number shows the plane was a Piper PA-32-301. A plane of the same model crashed in San Jose, California just last month, leaving its pilot with life-threatening injuries.