Pilot taken to trauma center after plane went down Saturday near Ridgeland Airport
At least one person was injured in a plane crash Saturday afternoon a few miles away from the Ridgeland Airport, according to the Jasper County Fire Rescue.
Air Traffic Control at the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport reported the plane went missing from its radar around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Jasper County Fire Rescue officials said in a Facebook post.
The plane’s last known location was four miles away from the Ridgeland International Airport.
Local police and fire rescue officials went to work searching for the plane and, with the help of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Air 2 helicopter, the airplane was found in the woods off Almost Heaven Drive in Ridgeland where it had crashed.
The pilot, who was the only person on board at the time of the crash, was taken to a local trauma center.
The plane, a single-engine Beechcraft B-36 Bonanza, hit a tree and crashed in a field while trying to land at the Ridgeland Claude-Dean Airport in Ridgeland, according to Tammy Jones, a spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The crash is under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, Jones said.
In March, a military fighter jet crashed on former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s family property in Beaufort County. In that case, two marine pilots were able to eject from the plane safely.
This story has been updated.
This story was originally published July 31, 2022 at 9:22 AM.
