2 killed when small plane crashes into eastern Ohio car dealership

MARIETTA, Ohio — A small plane crashed into a car dealership parking lot early Tuesday near the border of Ohio and West Virginia, killing two people on board and sparking a large fire.

The crash of the 1974 Beechcraft Air King E90 in Marietta, Ohio, was reported about 7:15 a.m., according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The pilot and another person on board were killed. The crash damaged several vehicles at the dealership and sparked a fire that sent dark plumes of smoke spewing into the air, but no one on the ground was injured. It wasn’t known if anyone was in the dealership at the time of the crash.

Terrifying video from the plane crash in Marietta. Working to get details.

Courtesy: Latoya Raschelle pic.twitter.com/HXUCWnms1m

— Ava Rash (@AvaMarieRash) October 18, 2022

The plane had apparently departed about 30 minutes earlier from John Glenn International Airport in Ohio, but it was not immediately clear where it was headed. The two victims — Eric S. Seevers, 45, of Parkersburg, W.Va., and Timothy F. Gifford, 49, of Orient, Ohio — were the only people in the plane, authorities said, though they did not say which one was piloting the aircraft.

Eyewitness News Reporter Bob Aaron has the latest on a deadly plane crash in Marietta, Ohio, that killed the pilot and another person onboard. The plane slammed into the parking lot of an auto dealership https://t.co/7gjSdtCX52 pic.twitter.com/d4EdE23xXw

— Eyewitness News (@wchs8fox11) October 18, 2022

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The crash will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Marietta is along the Ohio River on the border between Ohio and West Virginia.