The small plane they were in crashed Monday afternoon, killing four members of a family that operated a big farm in North Carolina that supplied markets and held local vendor fairs, according to officials.
According to the State Highway Patrol, the aircraft crashed in a field in Lee County, central North Carolina, close to the Raleigh Executive Jetport in Sanford, at around 1:30 p.m.
According to the report, the only people inside the aircraft were 35-year-old Travis W. Buchanan and Candace Buchanan, together with their kids, Walker, 9, and Aubrey, 10.
According to the Highway Patrol, three of the four occupants perished at the scene of the collision, and the fourth was declared dead at a hospital.
At 11 a.m., Mr. Buchanan was flying a small, single-engine Cirrus SR22T when it took off from Merritt Island, Florida. According to an official, the airport in Sanford was notified that the plane was losing radio communications when it was several miles south of the airport.
The accident happened in a densely forested location, and the National Transportation Safety Board is looking into what caused it. On Tuesday, the department planned to inspect the aircraft and relocate it to a secure location.
The incident occurred one day after multiple tornadoes ravaged the region, causing major flooding in the state due to heavy rainfall from a tropical storm.
Tom Green, a Weather Service meteorologist, said early data from airport sensors at lunchtime Monday showed clear skies and visibility of over 10 miles.
About 40 miles southwest of Raleigh, in the Sanford area, the family-run Buchanan Farm was a mainstay of the rural community. In the winter and fall it offered pumpkins and Christmas trees, and in the spring it sold Easter flowers. In the summer, there were watermelon celebrations with room for neighborhood merchants.
Fruits and vegetables were trucked from the farm to Lee County neighborhoods and beyond. The farm’s fields were planted with soybeans and tobacco, and children were allowed to play in the irrigation system.
On Tuesday, condolence messages took over the farm’s Facebook page, which is often packed with remarks about wonderful strawberries and bicolor maize.
From their farm stand in Broadway, a little village south of Sanford near the Lee and Harnett County line, some recalled the assistance the family provided to local business owners.
Among them was 23-year-old Mackenzie Canady, who opened MeMe’s Bakery in Sanford at the age of 17. The Buchanans allowed her to sell homemade cinnamon buns and pound cake on their stores in 2023.
“They made sure there were always events going on and brought a different spin of community to the rural area,” she said in an interview. To be honest, they were the first to regularly bring our community together.