Update: Fatal Plane Crash Victims Identified

Update, Friday, 1:13 p.m. (FAA response below):

Update, Friday, 10:20 a.m.

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office has identified Don Hershall Hall, 45, and David Jason Schorr, 40, both of Cumming, as the two people killed in Thursday night's plane crash on Lanier Drive. Hall was the pilot of the plane. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

The plane, a 2009 RV-7, is considered to be an experimental plane and was manufactured by Hall, according to Arlene Salac, spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"You can buy a kit and actually put the aircraft together and during certain stages of your process – FAA inspects it and when you're finished we determine that it is air worthy and then you can register it and it gets a registration number," she said.

According to multiple 911 calls, the plane went down around 7:45 p.m. Thursday on Lanier Drive near the intersection of Bamby Drive and only yards away from Deer Creek Shores Presbyterian Church.

According to the sheriff's office, the plane left from Stoney Point Airfield in south Forsyth County. Further investigation as to the cause of the crash will be conducted by FAA.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Specialist Unit, Crime Scene Unit, and Uniform Patrol Division as well as the and Coroner’s Office, responded to the scene. The road was closed for about three hours. Sheriff deputies secured the scene Thursday night and will be on the scene today, Friday, until the FAA completes its investigation of the wreckage.

Lanier Drive and Bamby Drive were shut down to traffic for about three hours Thursday.

Original Story, Thursday

Two people were killed Thursday night when the single-engine plane they were flying in crashed on Lanier Drive near the intersection of Shady Grove Road in north Forsyth County.

The identifies of the victims have not been released, according to Capt. Tim House of the . But Cumming Patch has learned the victims may be from Forsyth County.

The small two-seater aircraft went down just before 8 p.m. crashing in the road yards away from residential homes and that was holding service at the time.

There were no other fatalities or injuries.

House said witnesses reported seeing an airplane that was spinning. He also said the wreckage is in one spot and that there wasn't a "big debris field," but quite possibly could have come down "nose first."

As of this writing the investigation is in the early stages.

"We're waiting on FAA investigators and our investigators to document the scene," said House.

Sara Vogel, a nearby resident, told Cumming Patch that she and her family heard a sound up in the air. She described the sound similar to a lawn mower.

"Engine that was straining and then you would hear a sputtering sound and then it sounded like the engine was trying to turn over again," she said. "More sputtering sound and then there was a quiet thud."

Stay with Cumming Patch for developments on this story.