Small Plane Crash in Western NC Kills All 5 Aboard Authorities say five people have died after a small private plane crashed while trying to land at an airport in western North Carolina. Macon County Airport manager Neil Hoppe said the county medical examiner indicated five people died in Thursday's crash. The identities of the victims haven't been released. A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation aircraft left Venice Municipal Airport in Florida for the airport in Macon County, about 75 miles east of the Tennessee state line. Hoppe said the plane's right wing tip struck the ground after it veered to the right, causing the plane to flip and burst into flames. Investigators for the FAA were at the site of the crash Thursday. The exact cause of the crash wasn't immediately known.