Authorities were working Friday to determine what caused a small plane to crash into a home near Hope Mills, killing the pilot and a man inside the house and injuring his wife, who was also at home, officials said.
The Beechcraft 55 Baron aircraft crashed around 10:30 p.m. into a module home located at 4821 Pasadena Court in the area of U.S. Highway 301, the State Highway Patrol said in a written statement.
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The pilot and the man in the home were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. The wife of the pilot, Devon Merritt of Fayetteville, confirmed to WRAL's Bryan Mims it was her husband, Bill Merritt, 66, of Fayetteville.
The woman who was inside the house was rushed for medical care to Fayetteville's Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, where she was listed in serious condition, according to the Highway Patrol.
Investigators from the National Highway Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were reportedly sending a team from Washington, D.C., Friday morning to investigate the accident, authorities said.
A neighbor of the couple who said he worked as a firefighter for over 30 years said the woman was pulled from the home and was laying on top of the wreckage debris when he arrived at the scene.
He said he heard the airplane buzz the area in the moments before the aircraft clipped some trees before it crashed.
"When I walked in, it was devastating," the man told WRAL News.
The pilot of the plane, which seats six people and two engines and was built in 1979, was reportedly in contact with air traffic controllers at Fayetteville Regional Airport moments before the aircraft plunged into the house, authorities said.
According to aviation records, the plane was owned by Industrial Power Inc., a Fayetteville company that provides transmission products,
The crash occurred less than five miles southwest of the Fayetteville airport.
The identities of the pilot and the person inside the home who died were pending.
Overnight, crime scene tape surrounded the area where the aircraft crashed and a trooper was stationed at the scene.
Pictures from above the crash showed a large debris field that appeared to be contained to the yard where the house was.
A resident who lives in the area told WRAL News that it sounded like a missile in the moments leading up to impact.