A small plane crashed in Chattooga County Tuesday evening.

The plane – a 1940 Taylor Craft – went down in the Chelsea community off of Old Highway 337 shortly after 7:00pm; the plane appeared to have lost altitude, striking treetops on top of a ridge, before crashing approximately 300 yards from a residence near a barn.

There were two people onboard. The pilot has been identified as James Wallace of Summerville who reportedly received serious injuries and was air-lifted from the scene to a Chattanooga-area hospital; the passenger, Heath Hammond, also from Summerville, was transported by Redmond EMS to a Rome hospital for observation; it appeared he suffered only minor injuries. According to Sheriff Mark Schrader, the aircraft had taken off from the air-strip in the Teloga community – however no one knew where the plane was headed.

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to send a field representative from Atlanta out to investigate the crash today.

(AM1180)