Plane crashes outside of Elba

Published 12:03 am Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Two passengers of a small aircraft were transported to Medical Center Enterprise Saturday morning after taking a crash landing just outside of Elba.

The pilot, Tommy Nolan Burril, a 71- year old resident of Long Beach, Miss., decided to put the plane down on a private runway after realizing the plane wasn’t going to make the tree line after take off.

The men faced small, non-life threatening injuries.

Burril put the plane down a couple miles north of Elba city limits, off of Hwy. 189.

Elba Fire Department, Coffee County EMS, Elba Police Department, Coffee County Sherriff’s Department and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency were dispatched to find the plane on a grass runway with damage to the plane, and the injured passengers inside.

The members that were dispatched assisted in providing patient care, securing potential hazards from the aircraft, and securing the scene.

Elba Police Chief Freddy Hanchey said there was no known cause for the failure of the plane.

“We notified the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration,” said Hanchey. “They will take over the investigation from here.”