A single engine plane that made a stop in Meridian Wednesday crashed in North Carolina killing at least one person.

    The plane, a Cessna 182 Skylane registered in Hartnett County, was discovered Thursday in the Cape Fear River near the Hartnett Regional Jetport in North Carolina, according to news reports. Authorities with the FAA and NTSB have not confirmed how many people were on board. The FAA and NTSB do not release the names of crash victims.

    According to Blake Bowers of WAPT News in Jackson, the FAA lost track of the plane Wednesday. The FAA gave coordinates to the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office, which tracked the plane into the Cape Fear.

    The airport is located east of Lillington near the Cape Fear River and Highway 421.

    Bowers said the aircraft departed yesterday from Philadelphia Municipal Airport in Philadelphia, headed to Harnett Regional Jetport in Harnett County, N.C.  The aircraft was tracked to a location one mile from Harnett Regional Jetport Airport. The preliminary report is that two persons were on board the aircraft.

    According to flightaware.com, the plane departed Meridian Regional Airport around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday giving Columbus (Ga.) Metropolitan Airport as its next destination. The FAA aircraft registry states the plane is privately owned by an individual from Erwin, N.C.  

    The FAA and NTSB will investigate this crash. NTSB is the lead investigative agency, Bowers said.