While Carol Melton did some work on her computer Sunday night, she heard what sounded like metal crunching and being dragged. Because a speed bump sits on her block of East 66 Street, she assumed someone had been speeding and hit the bump, maybe knocked the bumper off their car.
When the sound stopped, she thought maybe their car had stopped running, but when she looked out the door, saw a large yellow and white object across the street -- the crumpled remnants of a small airplane.
"I did go back in and call 911, and at that time, a lot of neighbors were running out to the scene," Melton said. "It was just very surreal. I mean, who thinks that there's going to be a plane crash across the street from you on a Sunday night, you know?"
According to FlightAware, the plane was a 1964 CESSNA 336 co-owned and registered to a Jorge Marti of Miami. It left Miami at 6:16 p.m. and crashed in midtown Savannah around 10 p.m. Sunday night. The pilot, who has not been identified at this time, died from cardiac arrest shortly after being pulled from the plane, while the lone passenger, also unidentified, escaped with a few injuries. The plane managed not to hit any power lines, knock down any major trees, or hit a house or car upon impact.
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FlightAware shows Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport as the ultimate destination, but the flight path shows the plane heading closer to Victory Drive then turning at an almost 90-degree angle southward. Melton said she wondered if they spotted somewhere to land on Reynolds Street between the Lewis Cancer and Research Pavilion and Optum Orthopedics, where there is an open area a block south of where the plane actually went down.
No futher information is available at this time as the Federal Aviation Administration continues its investigation. This is a developing story.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at [email protected]