Two die in plane crash near King's birthplace in downtown Atlanta

<p>A small plane crashed into a building about 40 yards from the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. in downtown Atlanta, killing both people on board.</p><p>The aircraft's wing clipped an auto body shop. There were two people inside the shop, but neither they nor anyone on the ground was injured, said Eric Alleyne, aviation safety investigator for National Transportation Safety Board.</p><p>The Sarasota Herald-Tribune identified the victims as pilot John Ingram, 71, and his wife 67-year-old Rae Ingram of Nokomis, Fla., a town near Venice.</p><p>The twin-engine Beechcraft 55 plane crashed during a rain storm at 10:55 a.m. soon after taking off about 12 miles away from the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta, said FAA spokesman Christopher White. He said the plane was headed for Venice, Fla.</p><p>More than a dozen people in the busy neighborhood witnessed the crash and described a loud noise followed by the plane spinning toward the ground before hitting the one-story shop near the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.</p><p>"I swear that thing went right over my head. I thought the plane was coming right into me," said Ernest Washington, who was outside unloading supplies at a photography business next to the building struck by the plane.</p><p>"It was twisting and turning. And then you could see, like an engine or something, slide off the plane," said Terrell Holloway, who was working at a nearby pizzeria when he heard what he described as an extremely loud "engine problem" and ran to the window to see the plane.</p><p>Malcolm Okosun, who was working on a construction project about a block away, said he also heard a loud noise before running outside to see the plane before it hit the front of the auto-body shop in a "straight-down nose dive."</p><p>Authorities said no one on the ground was injured. "There were only a few people in the building, and they did not require medical assistance," said Sandra Walker, Atlanta Fire Department spokeswoman.</p><p>Alleyne said the number of witnesses will help in the investigation. It may take up to a year to know exactly what caused the crash, he said. The plane sent out a distress signal, but Alleyne said he had not heard it yet.</p><p>The plane came to a stop in the building's parking lot and burst into flames. Parts of the building were charred from the resulting fire, but there appeared to be no significant structural damage. Fire officials said the fire was quickly extinguished.</p><p>The Rev. Gordon Ralls of Venice-Nokomis United Methodist Church confirmed to the Florida paper that the Ingrams were aboard the plane. Ralls said the Ingrams' son, David, of Venice, called him Tuesday afternoon to tell him his parents had been killed.</p><p>"John was an experienced pilot," Ralls said. "He had no health problems that I know of. He and Rae took very good care of themselves. They were really enjoying retirement."</p><p>Whittemore said that Ingram was a meticulous pilot who had been flying for more than a quarter century. He said Ingram's hangar at Venice airport was so clean it could have been a "surgical table."</p><p>"If there was something a pilot could have gotten out of, John would have gotten out of it," Whittemore said.</p><p>A thunderstorm was moving through the city at the time of the crash. "It looked like there was some pretty heavy wind," said Chris Spanovic, who watched the plane go down from two blocks away. "We saw it disappear behind the building and then there was a large plume of smoke."</p><p>The crash occurred in the historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood, where King grew up and preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church _ only a few blocks from the crash site. The building hit by the plane was near several beauty salons, a coffee shop, a pizza place and some small retailers.</p><p>The neighborhood, which dubs itself as the cradle of the civil rights movement, includes old warehouses that have been converted into loft apartments and businesses. However, parts of the area have fallen into decline over the years and some of the buildings are beyond repair or abandoned.</p><p>The King National Historic Site and local community groups have led a charge to revitalize the neighborhood in recent years, restoring King's church, his birthhome and other nearby buildings. None of those structures were affected by the crash.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/10/158267