Myrtle Beach pilot killed in Florida plane crash
Associated Press
FORT PIERCE, Fla. - A South Carolina pilot was killed Sunday when a twin-engine plane crashed in a wooded area shortly after takeoff, authorities said.
Stephen P. Hodges, 57, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was the only person aboard when the plane went down just north of Fort Pierce near U.S. 1, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said in a news release.
The plane, which was destroyed beyond recognition in the crash and subsequent fire, had flown to St. Lucie International Airport from the Bahamas earlier Sunday. The plane landed and passengers disembarked before Hodges took off again, Mascara said.
Witnesses reported that the plane took off into dark skies, experienced engine trouble and crashed with only one of the plane's two engines still operating.
Hodges was en route to Murfreesboro, Tenn., about 30 miles southeast of Nashville, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 is registered to Flyin Cloud LLC of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to the FAA. No telephone listing for the company was available.
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA were sending investigators to the scene.