Victim identified in fatal plane crash near Albertville

MARSHALL Co., Ala. (WAFF) - One person was killed Saturday afternoon after a plane crashed near Albertville.

According to the Marshall County Coroner’s Office, John D. Lassiter, 75, of Crossville was killed. According to the FAA, Lassiter was the only person on board the aircraft. They’ve identified that plane as a single-engine Zenith 601XL.

The crash occurred near Mt. Olive Road around 2 p.m. Saturday.

Marshall County Chief Deputy Willie Orr was one of several who responded to the scene. He says calls like these are the most shocking.

“This is not a call we get very often,” says Orr.

Officials from the NTSB and FAA were on the scene with local authorities. There is no comment right now on what may have caused this incident.

“It’s still an active scene. It’s still being processed, and it may be several days, I would assume, before we’ll really have any details that we can release regarding what happened,” says Orr.

The NTSB issued this statement:

NTSB is investigating the June 3 crash of a Zenith 601XL near Albertville, Alabama.

Regarding the process: Once on scene, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. Part of the investigation will be to request radar data, weather information, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records. NTSB investigators will look at the human, machine and environment as the outline of the investigation. The preliminary report, which includes all the factual information learned to date, is expected to publish 15 days after the accident. At this early stage of an investigation, NTSB does not state a cause but will provide factual information when available. Investigations involving fatalities, and other major investigations currently take between 12 and 24 months to complete.

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