KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Update (12/8): Giles County authorities identified the two East Tennesseans who died in a plane crash on Thursday.
According to Bill Myers, director of the Giles County Office of Emergency Management, Jenny Blalock, 45, and her father James Blalock, 78, died in the small plane crash near Pulaski.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, officials said the crash happened near the Alabama state line in Giles County on Thursday. It said it lost contact with the single-engine Beechcraft around 12 p.m. ET after it went down near Diana Ridge Road in Pulaski.
Jenny Blalock was well-known in East Tennessee as an aviation YouTuber and luxury home builder and designer. Her YouTube channel, TNFlygirl, documented her experiences flying in the air. She owned Luxe Homes and Designs and Plantation Reclaimed, Inc. in Knoxville.
Jenny Blalock's videos often featured her father. She began uploading her training flight videos in 2021.
The Blalock family released this statement:
"On behalf of the Blalock family, we would like to thank the community for their outpouring of love and support for our family during this unimaginable loss of two precious members of our family, Jenny and Jim (Buck) Blalock.
Our family is taking great comfort in knowing that they were together when they met our Lord and Savior!
At this point, we are still trying to process this tremendous loss. We ask that you pray for our family in the days and months ahead."
Flightaware.com, a website that publicly tracks and reports aircraft flight tracks, shows a plane registered to Plantation Reclaimed Inc. left Downtown Island Home Airport in Knoxville on Thursday around 10:50 a.m. EST. It was in the air for roughly 1 hour and 16 minutes on a path that took it over Pulaski.
According to the Giles County Emergency Services, a witness reported the crash around 11:04 a.m. Central Time. At 11:16 a.m. CT, first responders arrived at the scene. First responders said it was difficult to reach the plane.
"This is a remote area of the county and not only that, but a very remote area of the property where the plane went down," said Bill Myers, Director of Giles County Emergency Services.
Myers said crews found two bodies outside the aircraft. He described the plane to be a single-engine four-seat aircraft.
"As the scene was surveyed, it was noticed that there were two fatalities... passenger and pilot in the airplane," Myers said. "It was just devastating. It was significant damage again. Unfortunately, there were just no survivors."
The FAA, Giles County medical examiner, Giles County Sheriff's Office and Giles County Emergency Services responded to the scene.
The NTSB is investigating the crash. Its investigators said they believed the plane was flying from Madison, Minnesota to Benton, Arkansas, but it is unclear if that information was accurate. The NTSB said its investigation had not yet confirmed if or why it stopped in Knoxville.
The NTSB said its investigator is expected to arrive at the crash site around 9 a.m. Friday to document the scene and examine the aircraft. Witnesses who have surveillance video or other information about the aircraft should contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.