SALISBURY — Authorities have identified a Gold Hill Airpark resident who died in an airplane crash just after takeoff Monday morning near Old Beatty Ford Road.
Dieter Floeth, 64, of Aviation Lane, was killed when his plane went down into a densely wooded area north of the runway about 4 a.m., according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
The plane caught fire on impact, emergency crews said.
Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the scene earlier this week.
An initial crash report from the FAA said Floeth never made contact with air traffic control and the plane crashed under “unknown circumstances.”