Three Killed in Small Plane Crash Near Sparta, Tennessee

YouTube / WSMV 4 Nashville
Three people were killed Saturday morning when a single-engine plane crashed just south of the Upper Cumberland Regional Airport in Sparta, Tennessee.

The Mooney M20TN, registered to Advanced Avionics, LLC in Cookeville, was flying in from Alabaster, Alabama when it lost communication with Memphis Air Traffic Control around 11:50 a.m. Moments later, it crashed into a remote wooded area off Almyra Road, just miles from the airport.
Emergency crews and volunteers launched a search, eventually locating the wreckage after the airport sent up a plane to assist. All three victimsโtwo men and a womanโwere confirmed dead. Their identities are being withheld until family members are notified.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.