5 died, including child, in plane crash at Wright Brothers National Memorial

Five people, including a child, died in a fiery Saturday evening plane crash at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, the National Park Service reported Sunday afternoon.

The single-engine Cirrus SR22 crashed into the trees at 5:18 p.m. as the pilot attempted to land at the monument’s small airstrip, known as First Flight Airstrip.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle, then crash and catch fire in the trees, National Park Service spokesperson Michael Barber said in a release. Four adults and a minor were on board, he said, and there were no survivors. The park service and FAA originally reported four people were on the plane.

The Wright Brothers Memorial was closed Sunday and the airstrip is closed until further notice, Barber said.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating and the identities of the victims have not been released.

NTSB and FAA records show the Cirrus SR22, built in 2023, belonged to Pantheon Aviation LLC with a residential address listed in Franklin, North Carolina.

FlightAware.com radar shows the plane left from Pinehurst, North Carolina, at 11:16 a.m. Saturday, landing in Ocracoke about an hour later. The plane left Ocracoke for Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo at 4:22 p.m., arrived at 4:44 p.m. and then left Manteo at 5:10 p.m. before crashing in Kill Devil Hills.

The First Flight Airstrip has been the scene of 11 aircraft crashes over the past 40 years, with the last reported fatal crash in 1984, according to the NTSB.

The strip was established in 1928 and commemorates the site where Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first powered flight on Dec. 17, 1903.

_____