Georgia Couple Killed in NC Plane Crash

  SYLVA, N.C. (AP) - A Georgia couple were killed when their single-engine plane crashed near an airport in western North Carolina.
    The state Highway Patrol said Wednesday evening that 58-year-old James David Lovins and 59-year-old Rhetta Ann Lovins, both of Vidalia, Ga., were killed in the crash.
    The Federal Aviation Administration said the Beech C24R crashed off the end of a runway at Jackson County Airport in Sylva. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the crash happened around 2 p.m. when the plane attempted to land.
    Sylva is located about 50 miles west of Asheville.

Wednesday
A small airplane crashed in Jackson Co, NC, Wednesday afternoon, claiming the lives of a Georgia couple. The FAA says a 4-seat single-engine Beechcraft Sierra BE24 went down in the woods about a mile from the airstrip. 58-year old James David Lovins and his wife, 59-year-old Rhetta Ann Lovins, both from Valdosta, Ga, were killed in the crash. The plane took off at 9:20 a.m. central time from Creve Coeur Airport in a St. Louis suburb. It was scheduled to arrive at the Jackson County Airport at 1:45 p.m. The plane is registered to Lovins Branch & Company in Vidalia, Ga.

According to their son, the couple were scheduled to meet someone at the airport for a trip to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.