Local

Officials ID pilot, passenger killed in DeKalb County plane crash

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A day after a small plane crashed into townhomes, investigators are scouring the area for evidence.

The single-engine Piper-28 went down minutes after takeoff Tuesday, slamming into the top floor of the Clairmont Hills Townhouses on Peachwood Circle. The pilot and passenger were killed.

They were identified as Leslie Csanyi, Jr., 59, and Scott Lowrie, 60. Both men were from North Carolina.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Channel 2's Aaron Diamant, who was one of the first reporters on scene, returned to the location where crews are removing pieces of the plane. One piece was found on the roof of a building around 200 yards from the crash site.

We're with crews as they investigate the wreckage, on Channel 2 Action News at 5 p.m.

The DeKalb County fire marshal declared six units in the townhome complex unsafe to live in. The declaration was made due to structural damage and fuel vapor.

A crew from Atlanta Air Recovery, a salvage company, will take all of the wreckage down to the Griffin-Spalding County Airport, about 45 miles south of Atlanta. That's where the NTSB will begin the process of reconstructing the plane and its systems to figure out how the plane crashed.

David Youngpeter lives near the crash scene and said he felt the crash.

"I actually felt the reverberation from the impact at which point I came outside," Youngpeter said. "The first thing is it didn't look like a plane because there's nothing left. It must have been a very small plane."