NTSB investigating deadly Barrow County plane crash

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Barrow County early Friday morning after a small plane crash killed the pilot and passenger on board.

Watch as NTSB investigators arrived to survey the scene of the plane crash

Barrow County Sheriff deputies said Dacula pilot Shannon Ewing and his Jones county nephew Henry Ewing died in the accident.

The crash happened Thursday afternoon near the Barrow County Airport located on Highway 82, according to fire officials.

WATCH a report following the crash Thursday:

Barrow County Emergency Services Captain Scott Dakin said employees at the airport came across the debris from the wreckage while returning from their lunch break.

"When they came down the road they did see the plane in the wood line just along the road here," said Captain Scott Dakin. "They called it in, upon our arrival we did have a small fire that was handled by our guys."

A spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration said a Beech C23 aircraft crashed at the end of Runway 13. Fire officials said the single-engine plane ended up in the wood line, killing both aboard.

NTSB air safety Inspector Todd Gunther said the Ewing took off for the second time Thursday at 1:45 p.m. They had apparently completed a successful flight earlier in the day.

"Witnesses state that it took off, and at that point we don't have any other witness statements about what the aircraft was observed to do next, Inspector Gunther said.

VIDEO: SKYFOX 5 flew over the scene as officials began their investigation:

Minutes if not seconds later, the aircraft came down parallel to Runway 13, struck several trees, broke into several pieces and started a small fire.

"There are, of course some trees going in that are clipped and you can see where it went along the runway, but in all actually it’s a fairly compact scene which is surprising with plane crashes," said Captain Dakin. 

Captain Dakin said its surprising no one heard anything and the crash could have happened as far as two hours before fire officials were notified. 

"We did what we could, but unfortunately the results were there before we arrived," said Captain Dakin. 

A spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration said the Beech C23 aircraft was built in 1973, but the Ewing had just purchased it earlier this month.

NTSB investigators hoisted the nose, tail and other pieces of the 4-passenger single engine plane on a wrecker.

They will reconstruct the plane in their hanger and create a preliminary report on the crash in 10 to 15 days.