One person is dead and another is injured after a small aircraft flipped over and caught fire while taking off at Yeager Airport Saturday afternoon, airport spokesman Mike Plante said.
The aircraft, a Cessna 172 Sky Hawk four-seat plane, was on runway 5 when the incident happened around 12:15 p.m. The fire was extinguished, and the two people on board were removed and transported to the hospital with "significant injuries," Plante said.
Around 3:20 p.m. one of the people on the plane died at a hospital. The family of the deceased has been notified but the airport is not releasing the name, Plante said.
The plane was a privately owned, small general aviation aircraft based out of Charleston, and Plante said that the ownership is unknown at this time.
The incident did not occur where a landslide occurred at the airport last year, Plante said.
The runway was closed following the incident but has since reopened.
The cause of the accident is under investigation. Plante said inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board had been called in, which is typical of these sorts of accidents. Beginning Sunday, federal inspectors, as well as representatives from the engine manufacturer and the plane manufacturer, will be at the airport trying to determine the cause, Plante said.