WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES
Tennessee Plane Crash Kills Four
Georgia-Cumberland Officials
small-plane crash took the lives of three administrators and a director of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, based in Calhoun, Georgia, as well as their pilot, just north of Collegedale, Tennessee, on Thursday, December 2, at approximately 1:15 p.m. A sixth person, the copilot, escaped with minor injuries.
David Cress |
Jim Frost |
Jamie Arnall |
Clay Farwell |
John Laswell |
David Cress, president; Jim Frost, executive secretary and vice president for administration; Clayton Farwell, assistant to the president; and Jamie Arnall, director of communication, were killed, as was hired pilot and Adventist church member John Laswell. Jim Huff, volunteer copilot and member of the Standifer Gap Adventist Church, survived.
The Cessna 421 went down two miles north of Collegedale, crashing in a field at Pine Hill and McDonald roads shortly after takeoff. The group was headed from meetings at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale to Knoxville, Tennessee, where they were to hold meetings with Adventist pastors and other conference presidents.
Witnesses at the scene said the twin-engine plane crashed into a thicket of trees less than two miles north of the Collegedale Municipal Airport and then exploded. The copilot was able to escape before the explosion. Early reports suggest that the plane crashed because of engine failure, but the exact cause has yet to be determined.
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America joins its offices in Georgia in mourning the loss of five of its workers," said North American Division president Don Schneider. "We would encourage all people of faith to join us in praying that the families and coworkers of the victims will find comfort. At times of great tragedy, a church family can provide great strength. We pray that we can provide that strength to those most affected by this loss."
Students and staff at Southern Adventist University are also mourning the loss of their friends and colleagues. "This is a deep blow to everyone here at Southern," said Gordon Bietz, university president. "The immensity of this tragedy goes beyond all of our personal and professional friendships with these dedicated people. We have lost a significant portion of our conference leadership."
The loss is also keenly felt by many employees in the General Conference office, who have had long associations with the Georgia-Cumberland church leaders. David Cress is the younger brother of James Cress, world church ministerial department leader.
--Southern Union Conference communication department/AR.
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