Piper down in TN

http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=9612404

Washburn, Tenn. - Two people have died after a small plane crashed Saturday
in Grainger County, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told The Associated Press the single-engine
Piper PA-28 plane crashed in a "mountainous and remote area" of Washburn,
about 35 miles northwest of Knoxville.

Local authorities told the FAA they received a 911 call at about 12:20 p.m.
EST Saturday from a person who heard a large crash, Bergen said.

It is unclear how may people were on board, where the plane took off and
where it was headed, she said.

Plane owner Bruce Jackson told The Associated Press that the plane was being
flown by a personal friend to Gatlinburg, Tenn. He declined to give names
and additional details.

Jackson owns Syracuse, Ind.-based Warrior Aviation.

Warsaw Municipal Airport manager David Beall said the plane left the Indiana
airport Friday afternoon, but he did not know who was on it. The Warsaw
airport is about 40 miles west of Fort Wayne in northern Indiana. Syracuse
is a small town near Warsaw.

An Air Force search and rescue satellite picked up an emergency locator
transmission around Clinch Mountain, said Civil Air Patrol Tennessee Wing
emergency services director Fred Koenig.

The Civil Air Patrol has turned its investigation over to local authorities,
he said.

A message left for Grainger County Sheriff James Harville was not
immediately returned.