April 22 (UPI) -- Authorities confirmed there were no survivors from a small plane crash near a General Mills plant in Georgia.
The plane went down shortly after taking off at 6:45 p.m. Thursday from the airport in Covington, located about 33 miles east of Atlanta, Capt. Ken Malcolm with the local police department told reporters during a press conference.
The crash occurred in an isolated lot in the cereal manufacturing plant, with the plane hitting four seemingly empty trailers, he said.
"There are no injuries from anyone here on the ground but obviously this is a devastating crash and there are no survivors," he said, adding they do not know how many people were on board the aircraft at the time of the crash.
Malcolm said witnesses told investigators that after the plane took off in a northeasterly direction from the airport it appeared to have difficulty gaining altitude and they could hear issues with the engine.
"Suddenly the plane veered to the right and immediately came straight down and crashed into the lot behind us," he said, adding crash site was about a half mile away from the airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board identified the aircraft as a two-engine Cessna 340 and said it was investigating.
