Taylor Stone, William Lindsey Id'd as Victims in West Georgia Mid-air Collision

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities have released the names of two of the three people killed Wednesday in a mid-air collision involving two airplanes at the West Georgia Regional Airport in Carroll County. Carroll County Sheriff's Office said Taylor Nicole Stone, 24, of East Ridge, Tennessee, and William Lewis Lindsey, 79, of College Park, both died at the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said two single-engine planes, a Beechcraft Bonanza and a Diamond DA20, collided. Carroll County firefighters and other emergency responders rushed to the scene just after 11 a.m.

Taylor Nicole Stone

”Two witnesses saw both aircraft collide in mid-air, Carroll County Sheriff's Captain Jeff Richards said.

Capt. Richards said Stone and a student flying the Bonanza out of Newnan, and Lindsey, who was flying the DA20, perished in the accident. Both planes were attempting to land when Daniel Gregor heard the crash.

”I was out in the yard. I thought I heard a pretty loud noise. I ignored it, but then I heard a helicopter, said Gregor. ”It was hovering, so I got on my phone scrolled through Facebook and saw a live feed from the airport.

”Both planes were coming in on a final approach at the same time, it appears one may not have seen the other one and sat down on top of it and they tumbled into the ground, said Capt. Richards.

West Georgia Regional Airport is a small airport with two runways and no control tower. Pilots rely on visual contact and radio communication.

”For private aircraft there's a lot of flying under visual flight rules and you have to keep your eyes open and be aware of what's around you, said pilot Beie Weidnaar.

Carroll county airport is "non-controlled"

West Georgia Regional Airport is what is called a non-controlled airport, which means there is no operating air traffic control tower. The FAA has regulations to control traffic, but pilots are largely responsible for taking care of themselves at the nearly 20,000 non-controlled airports that exist across the country.

There's also no voice recorder on either aircraft and investigators have to rely on eyewitness accounts to gather information.

Joe Fagendes, of LaGrange, is a retired Delta Air Lines pilot and current General Aviation Pilot who has flown over 50 years who said regional aircraft often take off and land at these airports.

Fagundes said, ”At non-controlled airports, just because there’s no control tower, it doesn’t mean it’s unsafe. Safety of flying is responsibility of the pilot.

 ”It’s not a dangerous operation just because you have certain pattes to fly at non-controlled towers. Certain altitude you have to fly, he said.

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