Asheville man, sons among four dead in plane crash on Atlanta highway





DORAVILLE, Ga. — Two Asheville residents were among four people who died Friday when a small plane crashed on Interstate 285 in suburban Atlanta.

Grady Byrd, of Asheville, confirmed that his son, Greg Byrd, two grandsons, and the fiancee of one of the grandsons were the victims.

The other victims were identified as Phillip Byrd of Asheville, and Christopher Byrd and Jackie Kulzer, both of Atlanta.

The pilot, Greg Byrd, 53, was a small business owner in Asheville, where he owned tanning bed salons.

Before Byrd broke into the business world in 2006, he served as a deputy with the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department for 17 years. According to Sheriff Van Duncan, Byrd was still an active reserve officer.

Friends were gathered at Byrd's Asheville house Friday afternoon. About a dozen people had arrived by 1:45 p.m. Among them were Duncan and Biltmore Forest Police chief Eric Tinsley.

"He (Byrd) was very professional. He loved life, he was adventurous. He really did a great job at the Sheriff's Office," Duncan said.

"Everybody is just shocked."

Tinsley echoed Duncan's sentiments. "He was just a great guy. He was friendly and helpful. It's just a tragedy."





The plane carrying four people went down at around 10 a.m. ET near Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. The Piper PA-32 aircraft, called a Piper Saratoga, departed Runway 3Right at DeKalb Peachtree Airport then crashed about a mile away, said spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane officially took off at 9:59 a.m. and was scheduled to land just before 11 a.m. CT in Oxford, Miss., according to FlightAware, flight-tracking service. It arrived around 9:15 a.m. from Asheville.

Alex Bradley, Asheville Regional Airport spokeswoman, confirmed that the plane was based in Asheville and took off from the airport.

Greg Byrd and his passengers were headed to Oxford to attend his youngest son Robert's graduation from the University of Mississippi.

Greg Byrd and Hope Swicegood Byrd, though long divorced, remained close as they raised their three boys, said Lynn Kieffer, a friend who was among many who gathered at the Swicegood Byrd home in Biltmore Forest.

"Greg had taken the plane out yesterday," Kieffer said, apparently without issue. She described him as an experienced pilot.

His father, Grady, had originally planned to also fly to the graduation of his grandson, Robert, but changed his mind, she said. Swicegood Byrd, who declined comment, opted not to go because her son was not walking in the ceremony.

Kulzer had not planned to attend, but finished her work as a CPA early, and was a late addition to the trip, hoping to surprise Robert, according to Kieffer. Kulzer's fiancé, Christopher, was in property management with Cooper Brown Real Estate.

Robert, she said, was driving back to Asheville from Ole Miss Friday evening.

"These are just all upstanding guys," she said of the Byrd brothers. "Hope and Greg have been very involved in the life of their boys."

Trouble with the flight

The plane was clearly in distress, said witnesses, many who slammed on their brakes to avoid what was developing. No injuries on the ground were reported.

"It looked like it was struggling. You could see him trying to get the nose of the plane up. It was edging up, and then it just dropped," said motorist Don McGhee, 48, who saw the aircraft nearly hit a traffic light pole near the highway onramp. "It was just a huge fire, just smoke and fire."

Truck driver Gerald Smith, traveling eastbound, slammed on his brakes, and the plane clipped his cab's hood.

"If I would have stayed on the gas, it would have come in the passenger door," he said. The plane crashed into the median wall separating east- and westbound lanes in front of him, and not much is left after the flames were extinguished.

Witnesses said the intense blaze prevented anyone on the ground from helping victims in the wreckage.

"Right after takeoff, there's not enough altitude, so you can't turn around and go back to the airport," said Phil Holloway, a WXIA-TV legal analyst who also is a licensed pilot. "I-285 is about the best option you've got, but of course, it's not a good option at 10 o'clock in the morning. ... There was really no option that made a lot of sense."

A pilot experiencing engine failure looks to glide the plane to a safe and controlled landing in a straight line from takeoff or slightly to the left or right, he said.

"It's a miracle, literally a miracle, that no other cars were hit," said Capt. Eric Jackson of the DeKalb County Fire Department. The victims' identities were not immediately released.

All lanes of I-285 were blocked at the scene for several hours.

Contributing: The Associated Press