Two people from North Carolina killed in fiery plane crash in Virginia, officials say
Two people from North Carolina were killed in a plane crash that sparked a brush fire in Virginia, officials said.
The small airplane crashed at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, in Suffolk, Virginia, with at least two people on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said in an email to McClatchy News. The aircraft, a Piper PA-28, was “fully engulfed in flames,” WTKR reported, citing transportation authorities.
Two people died in the crash, Virginia State Police told WTKR and WRIC. They have been identified as 54-year-old Christian Rask Fauchald and 53-year-old Eric John Bergevin, according to the outlets, which did not report where in North Carolina the two were from.
The blaze sparked by the crash spread to “a large area of brush and trees” and was spreading quickly, threatening nearby homes, Suffolk Fire & Rescue said in a Facebook post.
“The fire is spreading across approximately 35 acres of open field and forest,” Suffolk Fire & Rescue said Saturday afternoon. “All residents affected have been safely evacuated.”
Just after 3:45 p.m. Saturday, fire officials said the blaze was under control.
Authorities are investigating the crash. No other information, including what may have caused the crash, had been released as of the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 8.
Suffolk is near the North Carolina state line, about 40 miles southwest of Virginia Beach.
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