Man Dies In Paulding County Plane Crash

PAULDING COUNTY, GA – A 70-year-old pilot died after crashing his single engine aircraft in Paulding County Saturday.

Paul Lewis Deep, 70, of Middleburg, Florida, was found dead in the cockpit of his plane, which crashed off Lucas Lane in a rural area in northern Paulding County that can only be accessed by all-terrain vehicles.

At approximately 3:42 p.m. Paulding E-911 received a 911 call from Georgia Power regarding damage to the large transmission power lines that come from Plant Bowen. Once the Deputy responded to the scene he did not see anything obvious and made a report of the damage to the power lines.

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Later that afternoon at 5:05 p.m., a subcontractor for Georgia Power was patrolling the power lines on an all-terrain vehicle looking for anything that could have damaged the lines. He subsequently discovered a small airplane that had crashed into a ditch adjacent to the power lines and then called Paulding E-911 to report what he had located. Paulding County Sheriff's deputies responded to the area, and with the help of the complainant, located a small single engine plane, a Piper PA-28-180, which appeared to have crashed into a bank in a low lying area.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting the investigation into the incident.

Photo courtesy Paulding County Sheriff's Office