James Lavine was driving home from work on Highway 21 when he saw a plane coming from the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport.
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“I saw the plane it looked like it was trying to bank to the left and as soon as it did you saw a nose go up in the air and it just started falling backwards,” Lavine said.
The C-130 military aircraft crashed in front of his car and the impact caused his car to shake.
“When the plane hit it was like a huge fireball, it was huge and it shook everything,” Lavine said.
Lavine, as well as two other drivers, pulled over and he said they all ran toward the plane screaming.
“’Is there anybody out there, can you hear us?’ Just trying to see if we can get a response from anybody,” Lavine said.
But he said they didn’t hear anyone and all he could see was debris from the crash.
“There was shrapnel over on the railroad tracks. It was everywhere,” Lavine said.
Lavine said he knew instantly it was a military plane.
“It looked like a C-130 to me and I have a lot of military family and I support the military strongly and seeing something like that breaks my heart,” Lavine said.
The military is investigating the deadly crash.
The highway will remain closed as workers to clean up debris and any hazardous material that may have spilled on the road.