Pilot, Florida family of 4 headed to funeral in Indiana die in Georgia plane crash
A pilot and Florida family of four headed to a funeral in Indiana were killed in a plane crash near Eatonton, Georgia on June 5, 2020. (Putnam County Sheriff's Office)
PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. - Officials said four members of a Florida family, including two young children, and a pilot on their way to a funeral in Indiana were killed in a plane crash in north Georgia
According to the FAA, a Piper PA-31T went down around 3:13 p.m. into the dense woods near Tanyard Road about six miles northeast of Eatonton, Georgia. The twin-engine turboprop plane reportedly took off from Williston Municipal Airport, a small airfield in between Gainesville and Ocala, Florida just after 2 p.m. The plane did encounter a line of storms as it passed over Putnam County, Georgia, but it was not immediately known if those storms played a factor in the crash.
The plane was supposed to land just before 5 p.m. at the New Castle - Henry County Municipal Airport, a small airfield about 40 miles west of Indianapolis.
The pilot and owner of the aircraft was identified by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office as Larry Ray Pruitt, 67, of Morriston, Florida. Onboard were husband and wife, Shawn Charles Lamont, 41, and Jody Rae Lamont, and their two young children, 6-year-old Jayce Lamont and 4-year-old Alice Lamont, all from Gainesville, Florida.
All were found dead at the scene.
One of the wings of a small plane that crashed in a wooded area of Eatonton, Georgia Friday, June 5, 2020 (Photo: Jackson Embry).
Viewer video sent to FOX 5 shows what appears to be a plane in distress in the sky. Flames can be seen and a loud bang can be heard in the video.
A second video taken by a FOX 5 viewer showed a plane dropping out of the sky.
The FAA said that the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and will be in charge of the investigation.
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