NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office located the wreckage earlier this morning of a small plane that crashed in the woods near Lake Ashby east of Deltona and west of New Smyrna Beach. The two occupants, believed to be a flight instructor and a student pilot, died in the crash. Their identities have not been confirmed yet.
The plane, a single-engine Cirrus, is believed to have departed Tuesday afternoon from Orlando Sanford International Airport. Authorities in Seminole County launched
a search for the craft after it was reported overdue. Early Wednesday morning, a radar analysis indicated that the plane spiraled towards the ground in Volusia
County. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office mounted a search from the ground and air at 2:25 a.m. Wednesday morning. A Sheriff’s Office helicopter located the crash site at 3:45 a.m.
The plane is mostly intact, although it sustained front-end damage. The Florida Division of Forestry has been called in to clear a path to help responders get to
the heavily-wooded crash site just west of State Road 415.
The Sheriff’s Office along with the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an investigation to confirm the cause of the deaths. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.