WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Franklin County plane crash victim identified
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A Troutville man was killed in the crash of an ultralight airplane in Franklin County Sunday evening. State Police have identified him as Allen Bayne Jessup. He was 73 years old.
The crash happened Sunday evening in a wooded area off Six Mile Post Road near the Callaway community. Public safety officials believe Jessup took off from the Maxey Airstrip near Rocky Mount.
"Some bystanders stated they had seen an aircraft sputter and apparently went down," said Billy Ferguson of the Franklin County Department of Public Safety.
The wreckage was discovered around 8:20 p.m. "Two fireman actually came upon the scene. They were actually on a logging trail and could smell gas and kind of just went out through the woods and located the aircraft," said Ferguson.
Search crews wrapped up their work late Sunday night. They returned to the scene Monday morning and have forwarded information and photographs to the Federal Aviation Administration. But because the plane was a homemade aircraft, the FAA has decided not to investigate, ruling the crash accidental.
