A plane that left from Blue Ridge Regional Airport near Martinsville on Wednesday night was involved in a fatal single plane crash in Albemarle County. According to The Daily Progress, the plane was headed towards Washington D.C. when it crashed in a rural part of Albemarle County, killing the pilot, who was the lone occupant in the plane. At this time the identity of the pilot is still unknown.

The plane was likely having engine trouble as the pilot  radioed “I’ve got a rough engine here, and I’m gonna need an airport to land at,” just before crashing at around 11 p.m. After radioing that he had a rough engine the controller suggested three nearby airports he could land it and the pilot chose Waynesboro’s Eagle’s Nest.

However, within a minute of that communication, the plane dropped a thousand feet in elevation, the pilot then declared an emergency. The pilot then chose to try and land in Charlottesville, but the plane continued to lose elevation.

Just before the crash the controller noticed that the altitude of the plane was at 1,400 feet and asked the pilot if he could hold it. The pilot replied that he couldn’t. The controller then tried to the get the pilot to land on a road just to the north, but the pilot’s final message indicated that he couldn’t see anything.