Aviation

4.9, crash, fatalities

US: an aircraft carrying five Jehovah’s Witness ministers crashed in a remote area of eastern Tennessee, killing all aboard. The crash was not discovered until more than eight hours later, when another pilot spotted the wreckage. Authorities had to clear a path to get to the crash site in the Cherokee National Forest on Holston Mountain. Five bodies were found. One of the ministers was believed to be the pilot. The single-engine Beech Bonanza crashed after leaving the Elizabethton Municipal Airport. The aircraft had taken off from Hamblen County and landed in Elizabethton to pick up a passenger. It was destined for Virginia Highlands Airport about 40 miles from Elizabethton. The ministers were all from East Tennessee and members of a regional building committee. The men were on their way to Abingdon to meet with congregation members to discuss building a new church.