ASHEBORO — The National Transportation Safety Board says it is investigating the crash of a single-engine airplane in central North Carolina.
The agency says the wreckage was located Saturday in Asheboro, about 75 miles northeast of Charlotte. The Randolph County Sheriff's Office in a statement on Facebook said the pilot and single passenger are dead.
The sheriff's office says a helicopter with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol found the Piper PA-28 less than five miles from the Asheboro Regional Airport. The plane flying in from Tennessee was reported missing to authorities around 10 p.m. Friday.
Airport officials and witnesses reported the aircraft flew over the runway and tree line around 8:30 p.m. and didn't return.
The sheriff's office did not immediately release the names of the pilot and passenger.