Plane Crashed on Suburban Atlanta Highway En Route to Oxford for UM Graduation

Photo courtesy Dunwoody Police Department

A small plane carrying four people from Atlanta to Oxford for the University of Mississippi graduation crashed into Interstate 285 outside Atlanta shortly after takeoff, destroying the plane and killing all on board.

CBS Atlanta first identified the pilot as Greg Byrd of Asheville, North Carolina. Passengers were identified as Greg’s sons, Phillip Byrd, also of Asheville, and Ole Miss alum Christopher Byrd of Atlanta, as well as Christopher’s fiancée and fellow Rebel alum Jackie Kulzer.

The group was coming to Oxford to see Greg’s son Robert graduate from the University of Mississippi Saturday.

CNN reported early Friday morning that the single-engine Piper PA-32 clipped the top of a tractor-trailer before it hit into the interstate median, but no motorists were injured. Asheville, North Carolina, station WLOS reported the plane stopped in Atlanta after flying from Asheville Friday morning.

#DoravillePlanedown all @GDOT_I285_ATL redirected off the interstate @DunwoodyPolice pic.twitter.com/aL8N0anmJM

— Fidel Espinoza (@SgtFEspinoza) May 8, 2015

According to FlightAware, a website that tracks flights, the plane was in the air for approximately five minutes before crashing into the interstate median.

We will have more on this story as it develops.