3 Killed as Plane Crashes in Neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi

A Piper PA-32 single-engine plane went in for a landing in a neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi, yesterday evening, but the crew never made it. Three were killed as the plane crashed into a private residence.

Jackson Municipal Airport Authority reps state that, though the plane took off at 5:10 p.m., the pilot asked for permission from Traffic Control to return, almost immediately after takeoff.

Shortly after, the plane crashed into a house near Hawkins Field Airport, in the vicinity of the Jackson Zoo, on Marcus L. Butler Drive, south of W. Capitol Street. The owner of the burning house made it out alive, but wounded.

Witnesses state they heard a powerful explosion, Tuesday, November 14, Fox News reports.

"It shook the walls of my house," neighbor Vivian Payne recounts, having heard the blast from six blocks away.

Three men were on board of the plane, two of which have been identified as John Tilton Jr. and W.C. Young, friends of the owners of the plane. All of them lost their lives when the plane reached the ground, all having pilot licenses.

The aircraft is registered to Michele and Roger Latham, who did not find themselves on the aircraft at the moment of the crash. She mentioned the pilots were on their way to an FAA safety meeting, in Raymond.

Roger Latham, from Superior Pallet Company in Flowood, was supposed to board the flight, but changed his mind at the last minute.

"He went hunting. [...] Thank God," the couple's daughter says, in a report by Mississippi News Now.

It is most probable that the crew were experiencing technical difficulties; however, the exact cause of the crash has not been identified at this time. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash, and is set to turn over the inquiry to The National Transportation Safety Board.