Authorities say a business jet crashed while landing at a regional airport in Statesville, North Carolina, erupting in a large fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a Cessna C550 crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:20 a.m. Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.
The Iredell County Sheriff's Office said the crash was fatal, but the number of fatalities is unclear.
The crash occurred at the end of a runway, said airport director John Ferguson.
“The airport now is closed until further notice. It will take some time to get the debris off the runway,” Ferguson told reporters during a press briefing.
Video from WSOC-TV showed first responders rushing onto the runway as flames burned near scattered wreckage from the plane.
The airport says on its website that it provides corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams.
Statesville is about 45 miles north of Charlotte.
The plane took off from the airport shortly after 10 a.m. but then returned and was attempting to land there, according to tracking data posted by FlightAware.com.
The plane had planned to fly later from Sarasota, Florida, to Treasure Cay International Airport in the Bahamas before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and then to Statesville by evening, data showed.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
