A Huntsville family of four was killed Friday in a plane crash near an airport in South Carolina while returning home from North Carolina.
According to the Union County Coroner’s Office, James Moffatt, 60, his wife Leasa Moffatt, 61, and their sons Andrew Moffatt, 30, and William Moffatt, 28, all died when their aircraft went down near Union County Airport.
Authorities said the family had been traveling from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, back to Huntsville and had stopped in Union County to refuel before the crash.
The aircraft crashed in a wooded area near the runway shortly after takeoff, killing all four people on board.
Additional details about the aircraft and crash response were reported by WSPA-TV, which confirmed the date of the crash as April 17.
The Daily Mail identified the aircraft as a Mooney M20P single-engine plane and said the crash site was deep in a wooded area, requiring heavy equipment to reach the wreckage.
That outlet also reported that James Moffatt was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation into the incident.
In Huntsville, the family is being remembered for their professional and community ties, according to Rocket City Now.
Tony Moffatt’s career spanned military service and the region’s defense and aerospace industry. Commissioned as an Army aviation officer in 1987, he logged flight experience in dozens of aircraft and later contributed to NASA missions through work at Johnson Space Center.
He later managed development work tied to the MH-47G Chinook program before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2008. In Huntsville, he went on to found a defense consulting firm Moffatt Systems Inc, and he served in a leadership role at UAH’s Research Center, where he directed the Digital Engineering Transformation Lab.
Leasa Moffatt worked in education as a learning coach at a local nonprofit school.
Their sons were also part of the region’s workforce, with Andrew Moffatt working in engineering and research in Huntsville and William Moffatt building a career in information technology and cybersecurity.
The couple is survived by three children who were not on the flight, according to the Huntsville-based report.
The Union County Airport was temporarily closed following the crash as investigators began their work. Federal officials, with assistance from local authorities, continue to examine what led to the incident.
Sherri Blevins is a reporter for 256 Today.
