A Greeneville man and his wife were seriously injured when their plane crashed as it came in to land at an event this weekend in Telford.
Brad and Nikki Tweed, owners of Tweed Mechanical Services, were taken to the Johnson City Medical Center after their Cessna 182 crashed into trees on Saturday.
According to the FAA’s preliminary report, the accident happened around 11:00 a.m. at Kite Airfield. The grass runway, located off Barkley Road near Bowmantown Road in Telford, was the site of a fly-in this weekend sponsored by Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands.
Rodney Metcalf, who was at the event as both a participant and a spectator, said that an eyewitness told him the plane appeared to bounce as it came in to land from the south. The plane then went back into the air and banked to the right at a 45-degree angle before clipping some tree limbs and coming to rest upside down in a wooded area. Metcalf said he and others rushed to the crash site and were able to help provide first aid until emergency responders arrived at the scene.
According to Washington County Sheriff Keith Sexton, witnesses said the plane approached from the south side of the runway, gained altitude, then yawed left before crashing into trees east of the runway. The Washington County Sheriff’s Department said that Highlands Air Rescue was also called to the scene to transport Brad Tweed to the hospital while his wife was taken by an EMS ambulance.
Doug Lowman, who owns the property where the plane crashed, said he was meeting with investigators today who will try to determine the official cause of the crash. The Limestone Volunteer Fire Department, Washington County/Johnson City EMS, and the Sulphur Springs and Gray Volunteer Fire Departments also responded.
The FAA statement said, “A single-engine Cessna 182 crashed in the woods near Jonesborough, Tennessee, around 11 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Two people were on board. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.”
