RUSTON, La. – A pilot is dead following a single-engine plane crash in Jackson Parish Tuesday morning, Jackson Parish Sheriff Andy Brown told KTBS.
The crash scene is in a heavily wooded area around state Highway 146 and Old Snipe Road southeast of the Ruston airport, putting it about 5 miles into Jackson Parish.
The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the only person on board.
Brown said the man worked in Ruston and was en route there when the crash happened. The site is isolated with no homes or other structures around, Brown said.
Flightradar24 shows the plane's path from Huntsville, Texas, to near the Ruston airport. It made a couple of loops before the path stops.
The man’s name is being withheld until his family members in Texas are notified, said Brown, who knows the victim.
The Cirrus SR22 airplane is registered to LaSalle Management Company in Ruston. The private company operates the Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro and other prisons in the region.
Federal authorities will head up the investigation into the crash.
The sheriff’s office was notified about the potential of a crash around 10:30 a.m. with air traffic control in Ruston reported a plane going off the radar.
Sheriff’s deputies and fire personnel responded to begin a search.
“Wasn’t much left of the plane,” Brown said.