Claxton plane crash claims life
James Scarlett, a business owner enroute from Florida to his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, died last Friday afternoon when his small plane crashed into the woods near Claxton, according to multiple reports.
Scarlett, who would have turned 46 on April 22, was the only person on board the single-engine, six-passenger Piper Saratoga aircraft when it apparently experienced an issue in flight and dropped into the woods in the Tillery Road/Gadsontown Lane area of Anderson County around 4:43 p.m.
Residents in the area reported hearing a low-flying aircraft and the sound of a crash, and it took only a short time for the crash site to be located.
No people on the ground were hurt by the crash in the wooded area, and no structures were damaged.
The aircraft was found and emergency services workers located Scarlett’s body in the woods near 429 Gadsontown Lane.
Contrary to early reports that two people were on board the aircraft, Scarlett was the only occupant, said Brice Kidwell, director of the Anderson County Emergency Management Agency.
Scarlett, whose company, Scarlett, Inc., makes woodworking machinery, was on his way home from the annual Wood Industry Conference in Florida at the time of the crash. He had made a refueling stop at Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport shortly before the crash.
He leaves a wife, Amanda, and two sons, Tucker and Quinlan.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident.