3 hurt in small plane crash at summer camp in North Carolina mountains, officials say

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. — A small plane crashed just after 6 p.m. Thursday in Transylvania County, officials told ABC affiliate WLOS.

Three people were injured when the plane went down at Camp Kahdalea near Rosman, emergency officials said.

Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chuck Owenby said about 100 female campers and staff members were at the overnight camp when the plane crashed.

Owenby said the crash happened in a remote wooded area of the camp, away from the cabins and the dining hall.

The plane that crashed was reportedly a Cessna 172.

Parents of the campers were on the plane taking photos.

All three people on board the plane were taken to trauma centers, WLOS reported. Two people were airlifted to a Greenville hospital for treatment, with the third taken to Asheville.

Camp officials released a statement saying, in part, “Three passengers were in it. They were rescued quickly. No campers were injured or present and all three were conscious and talking and have been taken to emergency care.”

The statement went on to say, “These were camp parents doing a fly-over of the camps and reportedly taking pictures. Upon arrival by camp personnel to help, the first thing they said was, “The plane became unresponsive” and they went down in a wooded area. "

A news release from the sheriff’s office said the people in the plane had ties to the camp. However, the plane was registered to Franklin Air Services LLC from New Orleans.

“This is one of those, I don’t want to say once in a 10-year period, for right now, this is one of those things we don’t get that often here,” Owenby said. “At this time, we don’t know the cause of the crash or anything of that nature.”

Officials said Thursday night that the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration would not be on the scene until Friday morning

Return to this story for updates.

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