Pilot killed as replica WWII plane crashes

MULLINS, S.C. – A World War II-era replica plane crashed in a remote part of South Carolina on Sunday, killing the pilot, authorities said.

Willard Kay Mincey, 64, was the only person on board the P-58 replica, which he owned, authorities said.

Mincey, who was retired from the military, was flying the plane for a small group of friends in Marion County when it went down in a field after hitting the tops of some trees, authorities said.

The National Transportation Safety Board plans to investigate at the site, about 110 miles east of Columbia, S.C.