Small Plane Crashes in North Jasper

Millwood Ashley Dekle, 72, of Toccoa was killed when his two-seater Cessna crashed in northern Jasper County Monday afternoon.

The plane crashed about 2:15 p.m. Monday in a wooded area off J.H. Whitaker Road. Investigators with the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were dispatched to the scene and began their investigation Tuesday morning.

Aaron McCarter with the NTSB said that he and others would be on the scene investigating Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Thursday would go back to their offices. The plane will be reassembled as much as possible to determine what happened to cause the crash.Mr. McCarter said it appeared Mr. Dekle left the airport in Stephens County headed for Cairo, Grady County, Ga.

Mr. McCarter said they had three eye witnesses, but would welcome reports from anyone else who saw or heard anything. Any witness can e-mail witness@NTSB.gov.

He said eye witness reports are very important to the investigation. Mr. McCarter indicated a preliminary report should be ready in a week, but the full report could take as much as 18 months.

He said that once they finish the field work they will return to offices in Ashburn, VA, where they are based. He said the NTSB is charged by Congress to investigate each plane crash.

He said that they will “look at the man, the machine and the environment” to try to determine what happened.

He praised the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) for securing the scene on Monday.