Two people are dead after a private plane crashed Tuesday morning in Monroe County.
A single-engine M20 crashed at about 6:20 a.m. on Votech Road, authorities confirmed, about a mile from where it took off at Monroe County Airport. It was bound for Bruce Campbell Field in Madison.
Monroe County Sheriff Cecil Cantrell would not release the names of the victims Tuesday afternoon but said he believed one was from Monroe County and the other was a Lowndes County resident.
Cantrell said the plane took off at about 6:15 a.m. and was heading back to the Monroe County Airport when it crashed.
The website FlightAware, which uses FAA flight tracking data, shows a 1980 Mooney M20J, registered to Richard A. Justice of Amory, was the only flight scheduled to leave Monroe County Airport for Madison on Tuesday, and it shows the flight departed at 6:14 a.m. The website notes the status of that flight is unknown.
A representative with Bruce Campbell Field in Madison confirmed to The Dispatch Tuesday afternoon that Justice’s flight had not arrived.
A Monroe County Airport official confirmed the size and model of the plane but would not confirm its tail number to The Dispatch.
Investigators arrived at the crash scene just after 11 a.m. and have since cordoned off the scene, Cantrell said, awaiting Federal Aviation Administration officials to arrive.
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