Gwen Shamblin Lara 15: [29 May 2021] Gwen, Joe & 5 Others Presumed Dead in Plane Crash

[JermajestyDuggar]

That’s horrible. I’m hoping it’s not as bad as it sounds. Because it sounds really bad. 

[Giraffe]

Wow, I came to see why this thread was hot. This was not at all the reason I expected! 

[Tenyari]

This is just so shocking and saddening, no matter what I thought of these folks. Poor Elizabeth.

[kokocat]

We live in Rutherford County and our local Facebook page was just posting this info. I had also grabbed the screenshot from Elizabeth, but you guys are on top of it.

[jakesykora]

Most recent presser (I'm listening)

Confirmation of at least one fatality so far.

They know there are rumors of who/how many were on board, they know who it was registered to, was en route to FL, they won't confirm anything that's been rumored at this point.

Won't confirm who the one confirmed fatality was thus far until next of kin have been notified.

Debris field was found, all indications are it's debris from the aircraft. Found an oil slick, aircraft debris.

NTSB also involved (standard), Rutherford conducting drone missions, dive assets, etc. online.

S&R will continue through the night and will provide updates as they have. Asking civilian boat traffic remain away from the area, as well as drone traffic, to minimize the scene being compromised.

https://www.wkrn.com/news/plane-crash-reported-at-fate-sanders-marina-in-rutherford-county/

In response to a question, it's pretty apparent they are only saying "at least 1" confirmed fatality because they've obviously (IMO) found one body - or apparent remains all found that belong to just one person - thus far.  Based on dive team planning to be deployed in the water and it only being small debris found so far, it sounds like they're expecting to find the rest of the bodies once they find more of the debris after they figure out where to have the dive team deploy.

ETA in response to more questions: FAA will likely be the ones releasing who all was on board as they were the ones with those details prior to take-off, etc. But that will come down the road.

Currently no additional pressers scheduled, but media will be notified/contacted once they determine the need for it.

There are A LOT of local agencies involved, as well as national agencies.  It sounds like it'll be awhile before there is official confirmation from LE/transportation agencies about much else until they find the bulk of the plane and more remains. 

IMO, based on the already included initial RF memo, I imagine we'll see more "we don't know the status of who was killed/who may have survived" type phrasing even after next of kin is notified on the one already found victim b/c it'll help the RF narrative and keep people tied into believing the church is still solid.

Edited May 29, 2021 by jakesykora

[kokocat]

Yes, Channel 5 is also saying one fatality so far.

[Destiny]

This is not good news for survivors, not that I think there are any. Even if someone survived the initial impact which I think is doubtful based on the speeds involved, they drowned. 

I am genuinely saddened for their families and friends who love them, even if I can't stand the people involved. 

[Giraffe]

My heart breaks for Elizabeth’s kids. She wasn’t a healthy woman before this. I can’t imagine how she’ll cope with such losses. I hope this causes her to get the help she already so desperately needed in order to be alive and healthy for her kids. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, Giraffe said:

My heart breaks for Elizabeth’s kids. She wasn’t a healthy woman before this. I can’t imagine how she’ll cope with such losses. I hope this causes her to get the help she already so desperately needed in order to be alive and healthy for her kids. 

Brandon always seemed like “the rock” in their marriage. I know he is/was very deep in RF, but he seemed to be someone his family could rely on. It’s heartbreaking to think of the kids losing their dad. And their grandmother at the same time. 

[artdecades]

Holy shit. I haven’t followed them but I saw this topic was trending and did not expect this to be the news. 
 

small planes and helicopters are terrifying. 

[LifelongRFSurvivor]

I grew up with the Walters and Martins for my whole childhood, I’m very shocked and upset over this.. I know I can’t be the only one feeling confused because of how close they were with these people at one time.. If anyone needs someone to talk to feel free to reach out to me on here!

[formergothardite]

This is tragic. It does not sound like there will be survivors. 

[mango_fandango]

Wow, how awful. To lose a mother or husband is an awful thing, but to lose them both in the same incident like this... I cannot imagine how Elizabeth must be feeling right now.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Brandon Hannah’s last public post (on May 14th) on Facebook is taking his grandpa on a private flight for his 91st birthday. I wonder if it’s the same plane. It looks like a beautiful plane. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by JermajestyDuggar

[pamplemousse]

Just checked NewsChannel 5's site...it now says that Gwen was indeed on the plane.

Regardless of what one may think about her, this is tragic news. Prayers for Elizabeth and the family members of everyone involved.

[formergothardite]

43 minutes ago, jakesykora said:

Definitely...

They dropped 2800 feet in under a minute, there was basically zero response to ATC on the radio when things were being relayed, but alarms were heard in the background (otherwise silence).

It'll be interesting to see what ends up beingdetermined by the NTSB as far as cause once more debris, etc. is found.

 

ETA: Another presser is just starting on scene.

Am I understanding it correctly that Joe wasn’t responding when ATC tried to contact him, but alarm bells were heard? Could this mean something had happened to Joe? Or is it typical for a pilot in crisis to not always respond? 
 

Poor Elizabeth and her children. It is heartbreaking to think of the pain they must be in right now. 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

And Joe’s poor daughter as well. I think she’s only 10 or 11.

[hoipolloi]

2 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Could this mean something had happened to Joe? Or is it typical for a pilot in crisis to not always respond? 

Hard to say. Hopefully, NTSB's investigation will shed light on this. 

Whatever went on (e.g., plane malfunction), it sounds like it all happened incredibly fast so the pilot may not have had time to respond on radio.

[formergothardite]

1 minute ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

And Joe’s poor daughter as well. I think she’s only 10 or 11.

And Michael has children too, right? Gwen did seem close to all her grandchildren. 

[IsGwen4Real]

The press conference said they were on the way to Palm Beach. Wouldn’t Gwen have been officiating the wedding scheduled for this evening?

[Queen Of Hearts]

I feel terrible for the families of those who were on the plane.  My heart breaks for them, especially Elizabeth who has potentially lost the two people she is closest to and to Joe's daughter who is so young and was dragged into this cult through no fault of her own.

But I also can't help but find it interesting that the world has potentially lost not just one but TWO cult leaders in May 2021 (Gwen and Ernest Angley).  They say celebrity death comes in threes... could Gothard by next?

[Dana723]

43 minutes ago, Giraffe said:

Wow, I came to see why this thread was hot. This was not at all the reason I expected! 

Me too.  I thought that I hadn't checked in on the Gwen threads in a while, so I wonder what's going on?  Didn't expect this

[JermajestyDuggar]

5 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

And Michael has children too, right? Gwen did seem close to all her grandchildren. 

He has 4 now. They recently had a boy after 3 girls just like Elizabeth.

[Ozlsn]

Wow, I was not expecting to wake up to that news, that is terrible. Their poor families. 

[jakesykora]

19 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Am I understanding it correctly that Joe wasn’t responding when ATC tried to contact him, but alarm bells were heard? Could this mean something had happened to Joe? Or is it typical for a pilot in crisis to not always respond? 
 

Poor Elizabeth and her children. It is heartbreaking to think of the pain they must be in right now. 

 

Pilots are taught 'aviate, navigate, communicate' - so prioritize flying the plane, then navigating it (since if it's mechanical you may just initially be trying to keep it in the air and not focusing on where you're getting it just keeping it off the ground) and then communicate (with ATC, crew, passengers depending on your flying situation)

So in some senses it's not unheard of in a crisis while in flight - as has also been seen in many highly publicized passenger flight crashes as well - because they're just trying to keep from going down and thus aren't responding.

But the fact that it also seemed like earlier traffic maybe wasn't getting the aviating response they were transmitting to the plane prior to the audio where the silence/alarms were heard, it could indicate something possibly being amiss with whomever was flying and that being the cause vs. being so busy trying to fly that they didn't respond.

The fact that no indications from witnesses included seeing it come down in flames prior (or at least not that I have seen) it seems more likely it'll end up being mechanical or pilot error or incapacitation than something like a mid-air catastrophic incident, since IMO radio traffic and lack of witness statements about flames or loud noises would point away from the other types of scenarios.