Georgia, United States: Two people were critically injured after a single-engine aircraft crashed in a wooded area of Paulding County, Georgia, on Thursday, September 3, 2026, shortly after 8 p.m., according to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.
The aircraft crashed off Hulsey Town Road near U.S. Highway 278 West, approximately a quarter-mile into a wooded area and just east of Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport, according to authorities.
The two occupants were an 18-year-old student pilot and a 22-year-old flight instructor. Their names have not been publicly released. Authorities have also not yet confirmed the aircraft’s registration or specific model.
The occupants themselves called 911 at approximately 8:06 p.m. from inside the wreckage, according to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office information. Emergency responders arrived at the scene at about 8:09 p.m. and entered the wooded area to reach the aircraft.
Both occupants were conscious and speaking when rescuers reached them, Sheriff Ashley Henson said. Firefighters and deputies extricated the two men from the aircraft before they were transported to hospitals in critical condition.
“We’ve got two individuals who were in the plane at the time of the crash, and they are both alive,” Henson said.
Henson also praised the emergency response, saying rescuers brought the injured occupants to waiting medical teams “extraordinarily fast.”
The sheriff said initial observations indicated the aircraft was pointed away from Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport when it crashed. However, officials have not determined why the aircraft went down, and there is currently no official finding linking the accident to mechanical failure, pilot error, weather or any other specific cause.
The circumstances of the flight also remain only partly established. One occupant was a student pilot and the other was a flight instructor, indicating that the flight involved flight-training activity. However, authorities have not publicly confirmed whether it was a formal training sortie, where the aircraft departed from, its intended destination or the precise nature of the flight.
The aircraft operator or flight school has also not been officially identified. Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport lists several flight-training operators, including Dependable Aviation, Jul Air and Sky Dream Flight School. Flying Tigers Flight School also operates from the airport. However, no official source reviewed for this report has connected any of those schools to the aircraft involved in the September 3, 2026 crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the crash. Investigators are expected to examine the aircraft, flight path, pilot and aircraft records, witness information and other evidence to determine what led to the accident.
As of September 4, 2026, both occupants had survived the crash but were reported to be in critical condition. Authorities had not publicly released their names or provided a further verified update on their medical conditions. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
