Aviation YouTuber Dead at 45 After Crash
Jenny Blalock of Knoxville, TN garnered a following on YouTube by showing her life as an avid aviator and private pilot. On Dec. 7, the 45-year-old YouTuber, along with her father James, lost her life in a small plane crash in an isolated part of the state.
Local news outlet WKRN reported that Blalock’s plane was seen going down near the town of Pulaski in the southern part of the state at around 11 a.m. local time. According to FlightAware, the single-engine plane started its journey at Knoxville Downtown Island Airport an hour before the crash and went down half an hour before they were meant to land.
Giles County Office of Emergency Management director Bill Myers confirmed to WKRN that their bodies were found outside the plane. The aircraft was engulfed in flames after they crashed, though it was put out relatively quickly.
“Bystanders saw the plane go down,” Myers said, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. “This was in a remote area of the county and a remote area of the property, so it took some time to reach.”
Blalock chronicled her life in the air and on the ground on her YouTube channel, TNFlygirl, where she boasted nearly 16,000 subscribers. Just four days before her death, she proudly posted a photo on Instagram of her Beechcraft Debonair after being washed and said she would be flying out in a few days to get a “makeover.” Her father appears in a number of posts on both her YouTube and her Instagram page.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
