Plane Impacts Restaurant, Workers Accounted For

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 09.21.07 1230 EDT: One person is reported lost after a vintage aircraft -- identified in media reports as a 1947 Navion -- impacted a building in Clayton, NC Friday morning.

Officials haven't said whether the fatality was the plane's pilot, or if it was a person on the ground. Several people were reportedly in the parking lot of McCall's BBQ and Seafood Restaurant in Clayton, NC, waiting for the business to open for lunch.

The accident occurred at approximately 10 am, authorities told WRAL-5.

The aircraft impacted the building to the right of the restaurant's main entrance. Ten employees were inside the restaurant, and all have been accounted for, uninjured. Fire and rescue crews responded to the scene.

Witness Patricia Alton, who saw the plane impact the restaurant from her nearby apartment, said the aircraft came in hot.

"I could tell the plane was too low. I looked up and there he was tipping the trees at the back of my balcony and sailing very fast," she said. "The engine was wide open."

The restaurant is approximately eight miles from Johnston County Airport (JNX) in Smithfield, though the aircraft reportedly wasn't flying from that airport.

ANN will have further details on this accident as they become available.

FMI: www.faa.gov