MARIETTA, Ohio — Residents in Marietta woke up to the sounds of a plane crash early Tuesday morning into the Pioneer Buick GMC dealership parking lot on Pike Street. The crash killed the two people onboard, one of whom was the pilot.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol released the names of the pilot and passenger Tuesday evening, identifying them as Eric S. Seevers, 45, Parkersburg, W.Va., and Timothy F. Gifford, 49, Orient.
Carl Davis said he went outside after hearing a loud thump. The first thing he saw was smoke from a mile away.
“It was black smoke just rolling,” Davis said.
He knew he still had to get to work, he got ready and attempted to drive there. He quickly realized that wasn’t going to work. So, he turned around, took his car back and decided to walk instead.
“We didn’t even know what size plane it was then, until we got closer,” he said.
Once he got close enough, Davis said it, “Looked like and smelled like tires… car tires were burning.”
The plane, a 1974 Beechcraft King Air E90, just missed a hotel and a wide open field. It crashed into the parking lot of the Pioneer Buick GMC Dealership. Cars on the lot and part of one of the dealership buildings were damaged.
General Manager Rod Taylor said at least 12-14 cars are a loss. Some of those cars belonged to residents in the area who were getting repairs done.
“We can repair or replace all of the cars. It’s just a couple of families tragically have lost their loved ones,” Taylor said. “My prayers go out to ‘em. I mean their lives are going to be changed forever over this… and we can just… all the other stuff is fixable or repairable.”
Several agencies from Ohio and West Virginia responded to the crash, along with the NTSB and the FAA. Investigators will now work to determine the cause of the crash, which could take some time.
