Capt. Jeff Bezore of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th Air Wing said the plane crashed Wednesday, May 2, at around 11:30 a.m. local time, AP reported.
The Air Force says the plane was an Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane belonging to the 156th Air Wing based in Puerto Rico.
Bezore said in a statement that five people were on the plane, adding that they would be identified after the notification of their next of kin, CBS News reported.
Videos and photos published online showed the flaming wreckage near a road amid numerous ambulances and other first responders. Smoke could be seen from a distance away.
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport wrote on Twitter that commercial flights were being affected by the crash.
CNN, quoting the U.S. Air Force, reported that this type of plane was specifically used for weather reconnaissance.
“I looked over to my right and seen the plane at very low altitude and making a hard left turn to the ground,” he said.
“It was horrible,” said witness Denver Goodwin. “The ground shook like a bomb was going off. All the people in the building started panicking. It was absolutely horrible.”
Mary Hennessy Cogar said that she felt the impact about four miles away. “Our building shook and the lights flickered. We heard a boom of the crash and then a louder boom of the explosion,” she told the network.
Other details about the crash were not revealed.
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