Pilot Pulls 2 From Burning Plane After Crash Near Gray's Creek Airport in Cumberland County, Witnesses Say

GRAY'S CREEK, N.C. (WNCN) — Three men involved in a fiery plane crash in Cumberland County this weekend were headed to a barbecue restaurant 45 minutes away, according to friends.

The accident happened just minutes after the single-engine propeller plane left Gray's Creek Airport Sunday morning.

“They climbed up to about 500 to 600 feet, then the engine stalled and they dove into some trees,” Raul Carreon said.

Carreon's friend, Jerry Bueno, was one of the passengers on the Piper PA-28-140, a single-propeller plane. Bueno lives in El Paso, Texas, and was in North Carolina visiting friends.

Carreon said Sean Yocum and Bueno decided to take a plane ride with pilot Byrant Pasko to a barbecue when the plane crashed.

“It was scary because it caught fire when it hit,” John Dawson said.

Dawson lives near the crash site, in the woods near 6045 NC 87. He owns part of the property where the plane crashed.

“About 100 or 200 meters from my sister-in-law’s house. Almost in his front yard,” Dawson said.

Witnesses living nearby said the pilot pulled the two passengers from the burning plane before collapsing.

“Without that, we don’t know what could have happened,” Carreon said.

Both passengers remain in hospital with serious burns, broken bones and other injuries. A GoFundMe has been set up for Raul Carreon's passenger Jerry Bueno. CBS 17 is told the pilot is at home recovering.

This is the second plane to crash after leaving Gray's Creek Airport in the past four years. In 2020, an accident injured a flight instructor and three students. Dawson said that even though he lives near the end of the track, it's not really a problem.

“Most of the time when they come in, they're high enough that they can land in that field gliding if they get in trouble,” Dawson said.

The NTSB is expected to resume its investigation into the accident on Tuesday.