NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) -- Twelve-year-old John Clark says he was playing in the yard with his friend, brother and sister when he heard an unfamiliar sound.
"We heard this loud noise, so we decided to run in and tell daddy. We saw pieces of a plane flying everywhere," he said.
It was around 4:50 Thursday afternoon and Chris Clark didn't know what was happening.
"My neighbor called me and said he saw plane parts in the field and I dialed 911. We started searching and trying to find the pilot," said Clark.
The largest parts of the single engine Beechcraft Bonanza BE 36 was found about a quarter of a mile from the Clark's home.
"We rode four wheelers and mules and stuff. We saw plane parts everywhere and me and my neighbor actually saw the pilot," explained Clark.
The pilot has been identified as E.R. "Tracy" Shirley III of Newcastle, Oklahoma.
Clark says the pilot was still strapped to his chair when they found the wreckage.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Shirley departed from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Florida.
Memphis air traffic controllers lost contact with Shirley at some point.
Witnesses say there was thunder and lightening in the area of the crash site near Macon.
Shirley's destination was the Univerrsity of Oklahoma Westheimer Airport in Norman.
"It really did scare me because after everything settled it could of hit my kids or my house," added Clark.
Shirley was vice president and chief financial officer for Harrison Gypsum Corporation.
