Deadly Plane Crash a Joyride? Three Teens Die in Alabama Crash
Three teenagers died in a plane crash in Alabama in what may have been a joyride.
The teens took off in a Piper PA 30 small airplane on Tuesday night and crashed in a wooded area near Jasper, northwest of Birmingham.
"It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night," said Walker County Airport manager Edwin Banks, according to Yahoo News.
Investigators currently believe that that the fatal flight was the result of teens wanting to have fun joyriding in the airplane.
According to The Associated Press, Walker County Sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter told the media: "We don't know for sure but we think it was some teenagers who stole the plane and were sort of joyriding it. They got it in and took off and didn't go very far."
The names of the three teens have not been released to the public.
"I think they were just looking for a thrill and they had their last one," Painter added.
It is unknown how long after takeoff the plane crashed, but the wreckage was found close to the airport in Jasper which reported bad weather during the night.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport, according to CBS News.
The Piper PA 30, known as a Piper Twin Comanche, is a low-wing plane with two propellers and can seat four to six, depending on the model. The teenage pilot had never had the experience of flying a double-engine airplane and this may have led to the deadly crash.
The little experience of the teen pilot mixed with night flying during hazardous weather turned out to be a recipe for disaster that claimed the teens' lives.
