Greenville, SC (Greenville News) - The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash of a twin-engine airplane Friday at Greenville's Downtown Airport.
No one was injured when the Beechcraft BE58 belonging to the owners of downtown restaurant Halls Chophouse went off the runway on landing.
The plane crash was reported at 10:23 a.m. Friday, according to Tristan Johnson, a spokesman with the Greenville Fire Department.
Johnson said there were no injuries.
The aircraft ran off the end of Runway 28 around at 9:25 a.m., said Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the FAA. That aircraft can seat up to six people, according the Beechcraft website.
The FAA will investigate, she said. Johnson said the National Transportation Safety Board is also en route.
"They're going to take over the investigation to see why and what caused the aircraft to crash," Johnson told members of the media on scene.
A cause for the crash is still unclear.
"We've had so much rain recently. That probably had something to do with it," said Airport Director Joe Frasher.
Frasher spoke with the pilot and the two others on board. He said they were "shook up" but fine.
"He just said he couldn't stop, but I'm not sure why," Frasher said.
The plane will stay on scene until the FAA has finished its investigation. Frasher said a crane will have to come on scene to remove it from an embankment.
The airplane is registered to Halls Aviation, LLC out of Charleston, according to the FAA.
The owner of Halls Aviation, LLC is William Ames Hall, the owner of Hall Management Group.
Hall Management Group owns Halls Chophouse in Greenville among other restaurants in Charleston with plans to open a new restaurant in Columbia this fall, said Tommy Hall, the Halls Chophouse general manager and son of William Hall.
"Dad was on the plane with the pilot and bad weather came in a little high on the runway. They couldn't get it to stop in time," he said. "Everybody's good, it was just a little scary for everybody."
Tommy Hall said the company uses the plane to make regular visits to the Greenville restaurant. He said on board were the pilot, William Hall and a family friend.
"We try to come up here once or twice a week. We drive a lot but we've had the opportunity to get another mode of transportation up here," Tommy Hall said.
According to Flight Aware, the plane took off from Charleston International Airport at 9:07 a.m.
The plane's past flight log shows around 10 flights within the past two weeks, primarily to Columbia and Fairfield County. Its last flight to and from Greenville was on Thursday.
The Greenville Fire Department was still at the scene along with law enforcement at 11 a.m. Crews were staged at the end of a runway. At least three fire engines and one ambulance responded. Shortly after 11 a.m. emergency responders began leaving the scene. At least one engine and several patrol cars remained at the scene.
Frasher said the crash was "very rare" for the airport.
"It's a happy ending," he said.