Gray's Creek fire chief's grandson was pilot of flight that crashed during education exercise
Three students participating in an event showcasing careers in aviation were injured Monday afternoon when the plane they were in went down at the end of a runway at Cape Fear Aviation at Gray's Creek Airport off Butler Nursery Road.
Posted — UpdatedThe trio and an instructor were on board the 1974 Cessna C172 at the time of incident.
Joe Marsh, chief of the Gray's Creek Fire Department and a pilot himself, told WRAL News that he responded to the call only to find his grandson, Jake Parsons, 19, was one of the injured.
"I knew he was out there today," Marsh said. "I spotted him first. ... They were out of the plane. All of them were lying on the ground in different locations."
Parsons, an instructor for Cape Fear Aviation, was the pilot of the flight. He has facial injuries and was being checked out for internal injuries, Marsh said.
The others on the plane were Dominique Northcutt, 23, of Fayetteville; Vanessa Leal, 18, of Falcon; and Justin Elliott, 24, of Linden. All four people on board the plane were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville. One was later flown to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill in critical condition.
A North Carolina State Highway Patrol spokesman said the plane crashed shortly after takeoff into a field beside the runway.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, but it could be weeks before a cause is determined. Marsh offered a theory.
"It appeared it may have stalled," he said. "It got maybe 50 to 100 feet in the air and stalled out and went back down."
The event, sponsored by Cumberland County Workforce Development, allowed registered attendees to learn about careers as airplane mechanics or pilots, both jobs expected to be in high demand in coming years.
Deirdre Diamond-Martinez said she was surprised to learn that students were being taken up in the small plane.
"I signed a permission slip this morning thinking that it was just to learn how to build airplanes, but now he tells me there was a plane crash, so it just kind of caught me by surprise," she said.
A 14-year-old student who had his opportunity to fly before the incident said seeing the aftermath of the crash made him less likely to pursue his career path as a pilot.
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