YULEE, Fla. (AP) — One man is dead after the small plane he was piloting crashed Monday into a northeast Florida swamp shortly after takeoff from a private airstrip.
The pilot, 65-year-old Charlie Yeagle, died after the single-engine aircraft slammed into a swamp about 500 yards from the airstrip at the Flying A Ranch Airport, Nassau County Undersheriff George Leuders said.
“Witnesses said that upon takeoff, it appeared he could not gain any altitude,” Leuders said.
The Federal Aviation Administration reports that the Temco GC-1B crashed about 10:10 a.m. in the town of Yulee.
Yeagle was an experienced pilot and well known in the area, Leuders said.
Fred Arnett, owner of the airport, said investigators are looking into whether the pilot suffered from health problems after takeoff.
The FAA says it is investigating and that the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the crash’s probable cause.
