Plane crashes in Nashville, Middle Tennessee: A look back at some of the most noteable
Nashville and Middle Tennessee are no strangers to plane crashes.
The Federal Aviation Administration keeps data for reported aircraft incidents dating back to 1978. Over 1,600 reports were made in Tennessee, with only about 4% of those causing significant damage.
The majority of those incidents were in small, private planes, like the crash that killed a Canadian family near Interstate 40 earlier this month.
Here are some of the most noteable crashes in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
More: Three children, two adults were victims of fatal plane crash in West Nashville, NTSB says
Gwen Shamblin and Remnant Fellowship leaders
Gwen Shamblin, a dietician who founded the Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, died alongside her husband Joe, son-in-law Brandon Hannah and four other church leaders in May 2021.
Authorities said the group's 1982 Cessna left Smyrna Airport at about 10:53 a.m. bound for Palm Beach International but crashed a short time after takeoff into Fate Sanders Marina on J. Percy Priest Lake.
In March 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report that concluded the pilot, Shamblin's husband, became disoriented.
When the plane entered clouds while performing a right turn, it began to descend. A simulation test determined Joe Lara perceived that the aircraft was nose-up rather than nose down. The plane entered into a steep descending left turn, consistent with spatial disorientation.
Blue Angels pilot dies in Smyrna crash
While practicing for The Great Tennessee Airshow, one of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels crashed shortly after takeoff near the Smyrna Airport, killing the pilot.
U.S. officials identified the pilot as 32-year-old Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss.
The crash was the first in almost a decade for the Blue Angels.
Grief gripped Smyrna as what should have been a joyous weekend was shadowed by the tragedy. Two years later, a 200-foot-tall crane hoisted a 16,500 pound plane onto a concrete pedestal as a memorial to Kuss.
Kansas cattle farmer saves lives
In February 2014, Glenn Mull was faced with an impossible situation. The twin-engine Gulfstream Commander he was piloting was crashing. On board with him was his wife, Elaine, daughter, Amy Harter, and 16-year-old granddaughter Samantha Harter.
On the ground was the Bellevue YMCA teeming with visitors.
Mulls guided the plane to a sliver of grass. All on board were killed. They were on their way to Nashville for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Trade Show.
A 2016 report by the NTSB found that the crash was the result of the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed after an engine lost power.
Navy fighter jet slams into home
Twenty eight years ago, a Navy fighter jet crashed into a South Nashville neighborhood, killing the two military members and three civilians.
Commander John Stacy Bates took off from Nashville International Airport on Jan. 29, 1996 in an F-14 jet. Lt. Graham Alden Higgins was also on the plane headed to their base in San Diego.
They crashed two minutes after takeoff.
The jet nosedived into the home of Elmer and Ada Newsom. Ewing "Tommy" Wair was also at the home having his tractor repaired when the jet crashed, killing them all. More than two dozen homes were damaged by the crash.
Investigators said the crash was due to pilot error.
Patsy Cline
County music star Patsy Cline met an unfortunate end on March 5, 1963 when the Piper-PA-24 Comanche she was a passenger in crashed outside Camden, Tennessee. Musicians Lloyd "Cowboy" Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cline's manager and pilot Randy Hughes all died in the crash.
The plane left Kansas City, Kansas, where the singers performed a benefit concert. Hughes was flying under visual flight rules, meaning he was was piloting by sight.
After one refueling stop, the plane made it to Dyersburg Regional Airport where Hughes asked for a weather briefing. He was told by a Federal Aviation Administration employee that local conditions were fine for flying but the weather in Nashville was below the minimal conditions for visual flight.
Hughes said he'd turn around if the weather deteriorated too much. The plane took off from Dyersburg at about 6 p.m. Less than an hour later, the plane crashed into a wooded area near Camden.
American Airlines flight downed by ice
American airlines Flight 63, known as "Flagship Missouri," was on the last leg of it's six-leg passenger service when it went down near Centerville on Oct. 15, 1943.
About two months earlier, the domestic service was covered by the plane's sister ship, the "Flagship Ohio," until it crashed in Kentucky.
The Douglas DC-3 aircraft was behind schedule when it left Cleveland, the first city on the route that evening. With stops in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and Louisville before Nashville, the plane was just over an hour and a half behind schedule.
Leaving Nashville at about 11 p.m., headed for Memphis, the plane reached an altitude of 6,000 feet before requesting permission to climb to 8,000 feet. Ice started accumulating on the wings and propellers, making it difficult to maintain altitude.
The plane began descending, circled for a landing spot, but ultimately landed hard, killing all eight passengers and three crewmembers.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: A history of noteable Nashville, Middle Tennessee plane crashes
