Kentucky

Cash and suspected cocaine were on board stolen plane that crashed in Kentucky, killing two

A plane crashed off the runway at the airport in Henderson, killing the two men aboard.
A plane crashed off the runway at the airport in Henderson, killing the two men aboard. Google Maps

Kentucky State Police say they found a duffel bag containing a large amount of cash and a substance that is thought to be cocaine at the site of a plane crash that killed two North Carolina men Thursday.

State police said Friday that they think Barry A. Hill, 47, and George Tucker, 48, were looking for a place to fuel up around Henderson when the single-engine plane ran out of fuel and crashed nose first late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Both men, who were from Sanford, N.C., died.

State police said Tucker is thought to have been piloting the plane, a Bellanca 17-30A, though neither he nor Hill was a certified pilot, and the aircraft was thought to have been stolen or taken without the owner’s permission from the Davie County, N.C., area. 

The Henderson Gleaner reported that Tucker was a student pilot who had previously taken the plane out for a test flight with its registered owner, but the owner did not know it was gone at the time of the crash.

The plane was found by Henderson County authorities about 50 yards off the side of the runway at the Henderson City-Henderson County Airport Thursday morning.

Get one year of unlimited digital access for $159.99
#ReadLocal

Only 44¢ per day

SUBSCRIBE NOW