YouTube aviator Jenny Blalock and her father die in horror plane crash in Tennessee – just days after she posted the latest terrifying video of a couple flying together in the same small plane
A YouTube aviator and her father were identified Thursday as victims of a single-engine plane crash.
Jenny Blalock, 45, and her 78-year-old father James Blalock were killed when Jenny’s Beechcraft 35 crashed on the Diana Ridge Road highway near Pulaski, Tennessee, around 11:15 a.m. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Tragedy struck just days after Blalock, who ran a popular YouTube account called TNFlygirl, posted a terrifying final video of herself flying with her father.
At one point, Jenny is seen reading instructions from a sheet of paper as she tests out a new Cherokee 180 airplane for a friend.
The couple’s last flight took off from Knoxville Downtown Island Airport about an hour and 15 minutes before the crash, according to Flight Aware data.
Jenny Blalock, 45 (right) and her 78-year-old father James Blalock (left) were killed when Jenny’s Beechcraft 35 crashed
A YouTube aviator and her father were identified Thursday as victims of a single-engine plane crash
Blalock had a popular YouTube account called TNFlygirl with over 15,000 followers
Bill Myers, director of the Giles County Office of Emergency Management, said two bodies were found outside the plane, which crashed in a “remote” area that was difficult for crews to reach, WKRN reported.
The Blalocks were the only occupants aboard the plane at the time of the crash, authorities confirmed.
A neighbor tried to rescue the pair after it fell from the sky onto his property.
“My wife saw the plane come over and crash right there in the hill,” Richy Sands told WSMV.
Sands said he immediately went to the crash site to try to rescue anyone who might be alive and extinguish a possible crushing fire.
“Just flying everywhere,” he recalled. “Just total destruction. Just sharing everywhere, all on the hill. And when the paramedics got there, they found one person burning.”
“I hate to see someone lose their life over something like this,” Sands added.
Jenny flew a single-engine Beechcraft 35, a passion she chronicled on her YouTube account
In addition to an aviator, Jenny owned two companies, Plantation Reclaimed Inc and Luxe Homes and Design
A fire consumed the aircraft and the surrounding area, but was quickly extinguished by emergency services.
Jenny, a business owner, described herself on her YouTube account as a “private pilot who flies for fun in a Beechcraft debonair.”
“Private pilots have a unique perspective on aviation that can be informative and entertaining,” she wrote on the channel, which has more than 15,000 followers.
On her site she describes that her father has ‘years of flying experience’.
Several videos on the site appear to show Jenny flying in the passenger seat of the plane with her father.
In one, titled ‘Pilot Training With My Dad’, posted three weeks ago, the pair soar through the air together and discuss the technical details.
‘I like flying with my father. “I wanted to fly the same or similar ‘routine’ of a mock checkride flown in my hometown,” Jenny wrote in the video’s caption.
“I brought my dad along to help me figure out the electronic kinks and waypoints,” she added.
The Blalock family said in a statement: “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 takes great comfort in knowing that they were together when they met our Lord and Savior!
‘We are still trying to cope with this enormous loss. We ask that you pray for our family in the days and months ahead.”
Many friends and well-wishers also took to social media to share their grief over the couple’s demise.
“I will miss seeing you come to work and our conversations rest in peace,” one user wrote.
‘RIP Jenny. You are such an inspiration to young women and follow their passions,” another posted on her profile.
A third added: ‘RIP Jenny and James. You will both be missed by many.”
Jenny was flying the plane at the time of the crash, Giles County Emergency Services director told WKRN.
An investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is ongoing.