5 family members flying to Indiana for funeral die in fiery crash
EATONTON, Ga. (WISH) — Five family members aboard a flight from Florida to New Castle, Indiana, have died in a Friday afternoon crash in rural Georgia.
Howard R. Sills, sheriff of the Putnam County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Department, said the Piper 31T twin-engine turboprop aircraft crashed about 3:30 p.m. Friday in a forest and burned on the ground. The crash was about 6 miles northeast of Eatonton, which is about 50 miles southeast of Atlanta.
One witness told The Union-Recorder that the plane was circling and in flames before it crashed.
The family was flying from Williston, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to begin an investigation Saturday morning.
Larry Ray Pruitt, 67, of Morriston, Florida, piloted the aircraft. Also aboard the plane were his daughter, Jody Rae Lamont, 43; her husband, Shawn Charles Lamont, 41; their children, Jayce Lamont and Alice Lamont, both 6. All of the Lamonts are from Gainesville, Florida.
The plane was bound for the New Castle-Henry County Municipal Airport, a small airfield about 40 miles east of Indianapolis.
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The location of the airport in this report has been corrected.