JESUP, Ga. — A Georgia chiropractor who served in the military as a Navy SEAL died Thursday when the small plane he was piloting crashed as he tried to land at a rural airport, the local sheriff said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating to determine what caused the single-engine Cirrus SR22 aircraft to crash in Wayne County, roughly 60 miles (96 kilometers) southwest of Savannah.

Officials said the impact killed the pilot, who was the only person on the plane. Wayne County Sheriff Chuck Moseley told WJCL-TV that the pilot had been identified as Howard Wasdin.

Wasdin was a chiropractor in the county seat of Jesup. Before that, he served in the Navy as a member of the elite SEAL Team 6. In 2011, Wasdin co-authored a memoir about his military service titled “SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper.”

According to his website, Wasdin served 12 years in the Navy, including nine years as a SEAL. He was medically retired after being wounded in the 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, later featured in the book and film “Black Hawk Down.”

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