Three killed in Cherokee County plane crash

JASPER - Three people were killed Thursday night when a small plane crashed in northern Cherokee County, authorities said. <br> <br> The plane went down at about 7:30 p.m. in a heavily wooded hunting preserve just south of the Cherokee-Pickens county line, said Allen Wigington, spokesman for the Pickens County Sheriff&#39;s Department. <br> <br> The plane had taken off from the Pickens County airport to the north. <br> <br> All three occupants were confirmed dead. Authorities did not identify them. <br> <br> The crash left debris along two acres of the wooded area. <br> <br> Authorities are unsure where the plane was headed. It was registered in Pickens County. <br> <br> Barry Chastain, 48, a resident of the Fairview community, an unincorporated area on the Pickens-Cherokee line, said he was sitting outside his home when he saw a plane flying low. <br> <br> ``It was right above the trees and I could hear the engine cutting out,&#39;&#39; Chastain said. <br> <br> The plane ducked out of sight, and Chastain said he heard an explosion.

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