KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on Tuesday providing additional details on a plane crash that killed a Knoxville YouTube personality and business owner, as well as her father.
On Dec. 7, a Beech 35-C33 went down near Pulaski and killed Jenny Blalock and her father, James Blalock. It happened near the Alabama state line. The plane took off from Knoxville Downtown Island Airport and was heading to the Saline County Regional Airport in Benton, Arkansas.
At around 140 nautical miles into the trip, a flight controller told the pilot she was left of course, and she said she was correcting.
Later, the plane started rising and falling, with altitude varying between around 6,400 ft. and around 5,300 ft. It then descended to around 4,300 ft. before climbing to around 6,050 ft. and slowing down. Then, it started to fall quickly.
"During the last several seconds of the flight, the airplane was on a ground track of 262° descending at a groundspeed that reached a maximum of 228 kts, and the estimated maximum descent rate was about 11,900 ft per minute," the report said.
While the plan was changing altitudes, the controller twice told the pilot to contact the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center. The NTSB said the instructions were not acknowledged.
"During the final moments of the flight, a faint communication from the pilot stating the airplane’s registration and 'Debonaire' followed by an emergency declaration and an unintelligible word," the report said. "About 60 seconds later, a faint and largely unintelligible transmission from the passenger was transmitted. The controller’s subsequent attempts to contact the pilot were unanswered."
A witness said the plane was flying overhead at a high speed and said the engine was running when it hit the ground, according to the report.
"The cockpit was destroyed by impact forces and fire, and no flight instrumentation or gauges could be identified or recovered," the report said.
It also said two intact "digital video recording devices" were found at the crash and were retained so they could be examined.