National Park Service: Three dead in Smokies plane crash

Three people are dead after a plane crash in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to the National Park Service, which confirmed Tuesday that a single-engine plane, previously presumed missing en route to the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport, had been discovered within the park's boundaries.

Kim Smith, 42, of High Springs, Fla.; her boyfriend, David Starling, 41; and Starling's 8-year-old son, Hunter Starling, were aboard the plane, according to Smith's second cousin Samantha Hodges of Jasper, Fla., who said Tuesday afternoon that the family had not heard from them since about 4 p.m. Monday. A news release from the National Park Service said the three were on board the plane and that there were no survivors of the crash.

The plane, a Cessna 182, took off from a Jacksonville, Fla.-area airport, according to Kathleen Bergen, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, and was bound for the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport, according to the park service.

The trio was traveling to the Gatlinburg area for a vacation with members of Smith's family who already were there, including her mother and sister, according to Hodges. Stacy Patterson, Smith's sister, declined to comment Tuesday night.

"My son is my whole world and the sweetest, funniest kid ever!" said Tabitha Ritz Starling, Hunter Starling's mother, in a Facebook message prior to news of his death. "He has a heart of gold and I just know he will be found.”

Ritz Starling could not be reached later in the evening for comment.

A news release from the National Park Service offered no details on the cause of the crash, but said the plane was found at approximately 4:43 p.m. on an unnamed ridge in the park, between Cole Creek and Bearpen Hollow Branch. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead an investigation of the crash, the release said.

Molly Schroer, information officer for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in an interview described the area where the plane was found as a "very steep area, hard to get to by foot" but said she had no information on whether it would have been a difficult area to fly through.

Weather in the park Monday night was foggy and rainy, Schroer said, but there were no known weather advisories.

A reconnaissance flight by the Tennessee Army National Guard located the plane after spotting the wreckage along the last known flight path of the missing aircraft. Paramedics on board a Blackhawk helicopter were hoisted down to the crash site and confirmed that there were no survivors.

Hodges said the private plane belonged to David Starling. Records from the Federal Aviation Administration show a Cessna 182H registered to Joseph David Starling, of Lawtey, Florida. A search for David Starling turned up no records, but the FAA did have an airman's certificate on file for Joseph David Starling showing he was certified in April 2014 as a private pilot.

Members of Smith's family last had contact with the three about 4 p.m. Monday, Hodges said, when Smith told her mother over the phone that they were about 13 minutes away.

"They were waiting on them, but they never landed," Hodges said.

Hodges said she had not been in touch with family members in Tennessee and hadn't heard anything about the cause of the crash Tuesday night.

"I don't know anything about the cause, all I know is the bad news," she said.

She said Smith and Starling had been dating for about a year, and a recent photo on Kim Smith's Facebook page shows the two of them smiling in front of a brightly decorated Christmas tree.

"Beyond blessed to have this sweet, caring man in my life!," Smith wrote on Dec. 5. "He's all I want for Xmas and all I need for a lifetime because he absolutely completes me! I (love) you David Starling to the moon & back!"

Tuesday's search built off earlier attempts to locate the plane after the National Park Service received an initial report of a possible missing plane about 7:35 p.m. Monday.

Overnight, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center was able to use information from McGhee Tyson Airport tower radar and the plane’s emergency locator transmitter to determine a specific area where the plane was most likely located, according to the park service release.

The Civil Air Patrol, Federal Aviation Administration and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency also assisted the National Park Service.

Ground teams searched the steep and heavily wooded area on foot Tuesday, but were unable to access some areas due to the rough terrain, the release said.

Recovery efforts of the three victims will begin on Wednesday. "It's a difficult area to get to, and it all depends on how the weather is and how we can get a team together to retrieve everything," Schroer said.