Howard Lee Joe, 60, is dead after single-engine plane crashed near luxury Georgia island resort and burst into flames
- Howard Lee Joe was killed when his Beechcraft Bonanza plane plummeted
- Video footage from the scene shows the plane engulfed in flames as dark smoke rose
- It crashed across the water from Lanier Legacy Islands Lodge, a four-star wilderness resort
A Georgia man has died after a small plane he was piloting crashed to the ground near a popular lake resort.
Howard Lee Joe, 60, was killed when his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashed in Buford, Georgia, and was set on fire Thursday afternoon.
The plane caught fire after it nosedived into a parking lot along Lanier Islands Parkway near Pine Cone Drive around 5:15 p.m.
Video footage from the scene shows the plane's mangled body engulfed in flames as thick waves of gray smoke billowed into the sky.
According to the Hall County Sheriff's Office, the pilot was the only person on board the plane.
Howard Lee Joe, 60, was killed when his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashed in Buford, Georgia, and was set on fire Thursday afternoon
The plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, was scheduled to land near Gainesville, Georgia, just a few miles from the accident site.
FlightAware's flight tracker shows that Joe had taken off from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport about 15 minutes earlier.
The plane was scheduled to land near Gainesville, Georgia, just a few miles from the accident site.
The plane crashed over the waters of Lanier Legacy Islands Lodge, a four-star hotel with 18 holes of golf, a marina and a poolside bar.
The lodge is billed as “a warm Southern welcome,” located in the Georgia wilderness, with activities including kayaking and power boating.
Records show that Joe had two other aircraft previously licensed under his name, a 2006 Mooney M20R and a 1980 Beechcraft Bonanza F33A.
The Bonanza G36 he piloted is a single-engine, six-seat aircraft that has been in continuous production since 1947, longer than any other aircraft in history.
It is unclear whether the plane malfunctioned.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.