On October 20, 2019, starting at 7:25 p.m., fire and EMS units were dispatched to a reported plane crash at Umstead State Park, which borders Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The dispatched address was the intersection of Ebenezer Church Road and Graylyn Drive. The airport control tower reported loss of radar contact with a light plane, later identified as a Piper PA-32-301, N534Z, with two souls aboard. 

Command post and staging areas were established at the intersection, with search crews entering park in vehicles and later on foot. Search activities continued until about 3:00 a.m. Operations  resumed after daybreak, with command and staging relocated to the park’s visitor’s center on Glenwood Avenue. The aircraft was located at 10:22 a.m. There were no survivors. 

Incidents notes about the fire and EMS response have been compiled Mike Legeros. Read the 37 page document (PDF, 4.8M) at  https://legeros.com/blog/docs/2019-umstead-park-plane-crash.pdf

See Legeros photos from the incident at https://legeros.smugmug.com/Fire-Photos/2019/2019-10-umstead-crash

See related research on area airplane accidents at https://www.legeros.com/history/aviation/crashes/