CEO of Norcross business dies in small plane crash

ATLANTA (AP) A small plane crashed in northwest Atlanta on Tuesday night, killing both people on board, officials said.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is identifying one of the victims, the pilot, as 67-year-old Peter J. Mallen of Atlanta, the CEO of Mallen Industries in Norcross. The second victim's identity has not yet been released.

The Raytheon 390 Premier I aircraft crashed shortly after 7 p.m., said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. Videos taken by neighbors and sent to news media outlets showed that the plane landed in a wooded area and burst into flames before emergency responders arrived.

The plane, registered to a company in the metro-Atlanta area, departed from the Fulton County Airport and was destined for the New Orleans Lakefront Airport, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

Neighbors in the area said the aircraft narrowly missed nearby houses.

"Before it even hit, the house shook," area resident Drew Hawkins was quoted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying. "Then I heard the explosion and it shook the house even more."

Another neighbor, Kevin Krapp, was quoted by the newspaper as saying he thought the plane hit a nearby house after it missed his.

"It looked like it was coming straight for our house, and at the last minute, dipped its wings over and it banked really hard right," Krapp said, adding that the aircraft landed a few hundred yards away from his property.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.