Dive Crews Still Trying to Recover Plane That Crashed in Lake Hartwell

Dive crews are still working to recover an airplane that crashed in Lake Hartwell on Saturday.  According to Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland, Hart County 911 received a call on Saturday around 12:30pm about an airplane that had crashed in the lake near Elrod Ferry and Long Point Recreation Area off of Old Highway 29 near Hartwell.

Dive crews were called in and found an airplane submerged in about 120 feet of water.  Cleveland says the pilot was the only occupant on board and did not survive.  Cleveland says the plane and its contents are tangled in trees.  The sheriff says it could take a few days to recover everything.   The pilot’s identity has not been released at this time pending notification of next of kin.

Eddie Addison, with the Franklin-Hart County Airport Authority says a witness reported seeing the plane spiral into the water.  Addison, who is an experienced pilot himself, speculates spatial disorientation could have played a part in the crash.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating.  The FAA confirms the plane is a single-engine Beechcraft B55.  The airplane was en route to the Anderson Regional Airport in Anderson, South Carolina.