Millionaire parents and their two sons aged 28 and 30 die in private plane crash while flying home to Alabama mansion
A wealthy couple and their two sons all died in a plane crash while flying from North Carolina to their mansion in Alabama.
James ‘Tony’ Moffatt, 60, his wife Leasa Moffatt, 61, and their sons Andrew, 30, and William, 28, died on Friday when their plane crashed into a woodland near Union County Airport.
Officials said the family were flying from Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina to their home in Huntsville, Alabama, where they lived in a $1.4 million compound, records show.
Shortly before the crash, the family had stopped briefly in Union County, South Carolina to refuel their Mooney M20P single-prop plane.
The family’s plane crashed into a wooded area near the Union County Airport runway shortly after taking off.
The crash site was so deep in the forest that the state Forestry Service had to deploy a bulldozer to clear a path to the aircraft and to retrieve the victims, authorities said.
The cause of the crash is not yet clear, and the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
Investigators said James had been piloting the aircraft, and pictures shared to social media showed the father was an enthusiastic amateur pilot.
James ‘Tony’ Moffatt, 60, was tragically killed when a plane he was piloting crashed near an airport in South Carolina, along with his wife and two sons
James was piloting the plane when it crashed, killing him, his sons and wife Leasa Moffatt, 61, who was described as a ‘bright light’ in touching tributes following the tragedy
Brothers Andrew, 30, and William, 28, were also killed in the crash
Tributes poured in for the family following news of the tragedy.
The Huntsville Volleyball Academy said the Moffatt family had been popular members of their homeschooling program, and said James had been a coach for the team.
The academy said the family’s surviving daughters were members, while Andrew was a photographer for the team.
‘Leasa was always, always a bright light in the stands or at court side,’ the team said.
The Freedom Cowboys Football team in Alabama said James was also a coach for their team on which his son William played, and said the family ‘represented the foundational spiritual principles that we hope we demonstrate in all that we do.’
‘Our hearts are broken,’ the team said on social media.
James, who was piloting the plane, seen with his son Andrew
The cause of the crash is not yet clear, and the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. Pictured: William Moffatt
Officials said the family were flying home to Huntsville, Alabama, and they had stopped briefly in at Union County Airport in South Carolina (pictured) to refuel shortly before crashing near the runway
Friend Irene Tucker also wrote on social media that Leasa was a devoted mother who ‘carried a lightness of spirit that brought joy to others so effortlessly.’
‘Her words – often witty, always kind – were a reflection of a gracious and thoughtful heart,’ she said.
