CLINTON COUNTY, Pa. — A plane crash in Clinton County left a 17-year-old pilot dead.
The crash happened around 10 a.m. Thursday in Woodward Township, near Lock Haven. State and federal investigators spent hours in the woods nearby trying to piece together what led to this deadly crash.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were in Woodward Township on Friday to survey the damage.
According to state police, the Cessna 172 crashed in a wooded area near South Allegheny Street.
Troopers say the 17-year-old girl who was piloting the plane died in the crash. She was the only person on board.
The Dunnstown Fire Chief says the plane took off from Williamsport Airport. There is no report on where it was headed.
A neighbor says he heard the plane crash, saw flames shooting from the trees, and said he tried to help but couldn't get near the plane.
Another witness Newswatch 16 spoke to tells us she and her husband heard a loud sputtering noise, looked up at the sky, and saw the plane coming down.
"I heard kaboom, and then by the time I got my head out, it was nothing but black smoke coming up over the trees, and we both ran up. He got there first, and the neighbor got there; I was calling 911, and when we got there, the flames were up over the trees, there was nothing, nobody could get close," said Dianna Horning of Woodward Township.
Federal investigators tell Newswatch 16 they need to take the wreckage to Delaware for more tests before determining the cause of that deadly crash.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.