https://www.wcnc.com/article/weather/hurricane/helene/hickory-airport-plane-crash-helene-relief/275-6772c4bb-974f-4c79-87d6-967b1f80e194(not the best of audio)
HICKORY, N.C. — The pilot of a small plane is injured after a crash at Hickory Regional Airport on Wednesday, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
The pilot, identified as 41-year-old Jordan Seth Faught, of Lenior, was assisting with Helene relief efforts when the single-engine Cessna experienced a mechanical failure, according to officials. As the pilot was returning from a supply drop off in Avery County, he made an emergency landing in Hickory. Faught was not injured. The FAA will be investigating.
The airport in Hickory is one of several regional airports where supplies are being staged and flown into isolated communities in western North Carolina.
In Hickory on Tuesday, helicopters landed carrying 100 foster children. Other helicopters were also carrying 53 adults from an assisted living facility in Burnsville, a small town in Yancey County located near Mt. Mitchell.
WCNC Charlotte was at the Hickory Regional Airport as those aircraft arrived on Tuesday. Medical personnel were at the airport to care for any of the evacuees.
Hickory is located in the foothills of North Carolina between Asheville and Charlotte. It is one of the closest operating airports just outside the disaster zone.
