WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Lt. Rick Jensen with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office says helicopter crews have located the site of a plane crash that killed a Mississippi senator in southern Washington County.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that the pilot was the only person on the plane, and they suffered fatal injuries.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says the pilot was John Morgan, 76, of Oxford, Miss. Morgan’s body will be transported to the Arkansas State Crime Lab.
Morgan is seen on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s website as a former Mississippi state senator from 1984-92.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the wreckage of a missing twin-engine Beech King Air E-90 was found on May 17 at 3:46 p.m.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says the location of the crash is on private property between Carpenter Road and Ferry Road in Winslow in steep, rugged terrain. The sheriff’s office says the NTSB and the FAA will assume responsibility of the investigation.
The FAA says the plane left University-Oxford Airport in Mississippi earlier in the day. The government organization says it alerted local public safety agencies about the missing plane.
According to a social media post from the sheriff’s office, a report of an airplane losing altitude possibly crashed in south Washington County.
According to Jensen, the sheriff’s office received a call around 12:30 p.m. from someone saying they heard a plane sputter and crash.
Mercy Hospital, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the National Guard provided helicopters for the search.