A small plane trying to land Saturday at a private mountain airstrip hit two planes on the ground, killing three people, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The crash occurred about 10:15 a.m. at Mountain Air, a private golf development north of Asheville. The Mountain Air Web site said the resort is 4,400 feet above sea level and has a 2,875-foot runway.
“A single engine plane bounced on landing and struck two other aircraft and all three caught on fire,” said Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman.
Freddy A. Camuzzi and Charles R. Freeble III, both doctors at St. Petersburg General Hospital, were killed, the hospital told the St. Petersburg Times.
The plane, a four-seat 2006 Columbia, was registered to Freddy Camuzzi of Largo, Fla.
Bergen said she didn’t know the status of the other two planes when the crash occurred or whether all three victims were in the same aircraft.
The name of the third victim wasn’t immediately available. Emergency officials in Yancey County didn’t immediately return telephone calls.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.
