SOCASTEE, S.C. (WBTW) — One person is dead Friday evening after a plane crash in Socastee, according to the Horry County Coroner’s Office.
The reported plane crash was reported in the 3800 block of Socastee Boulevard, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.
The plane was registered to PJS, LLC based in North Myrtle Beach, according to FlightAware.
The website shows the plane is a Piper Navajo PA31. Data from FlightAware shows the plane took off from Myrtle Beach International Airport at 6:12 p.m. and shows a flight path that ends near the location of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is investigating the crash and an investigator is expected to arrive on the scene Saturday.
Two witnesses told WBTW they saw the plane going down and went over to help.
“We saw this plane going super low overhead, heard a noise like a bang or a pop and just ran over across the street through the traffic seeing if we could help, seeing what happened,” Sarah Ortega said.
“It come right above the trees and you could see it dropping, so I grabbed my cell phone and called 911 and told them that a plane was going down,” Yana Mintz said. “I heard someone say they smelled gas. I was too busy trying to find somebody, and then it just exploded.”
“I’m just thankful it’s in an open field,” Ortega said. “I can’t believe how they didn’t hit any of these wires and luckily none of these houses, the restaurants.”
Socastee Boulevard was closed for some time but has since reopened.
