A young dad who had only just opened his own flight school and the teen boy he was teaching to fly were killed in a fiery plane crash in Mississippi over the weekend, authorities said.
Flight instructor Wesley Bolden, 29, and his 17-year-old student, Jordan Hall, died when the single-engine plane they were in went down close to the runway at Holly Springs-Marshall County Airport on Sunday, WREG reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear who had the controls at the time.
Bolden, who was a certified flight instructor, had started his own flying school — Firecrest Aviation — last August.
“Wes loved nothing more than flying airplanes and being with his family,” an online tribute said.
Bolden is survived by his fiancée Erica Keller and their 1-year-old daughter Ruby.
His student, meanwhile, had dreams of becoming a pilot, according to his family.
“My baby died doing what he loved,” his grief-stricken mom, Jacinta Hall-Weeden, said in a Facebook post.
“We spent Sunday going to church with his girlfriend and he left to drop her off before heading to his flight lesson. That’s the last time I saw or will ever see my baby, but I have peace.”
Investigators are still probing the cause of the wreck and have been sifting through the debris, Marshall County Sheriff Kenny Dickerson said.
“Hopefully, with their expertise, they may be able to tell us a lot more about possibly what could have happened or what caused it,” Dickerson said.
The plane struck a large tree before crashing and bursting into flames. It isn’t yet clear if the pair were trying to take off or land when the tragedy occurred.
“It’s just absolutely devastating. Absolutely devastating,” the sheriff added.
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