Joel Osteen’s Lakewood megachurch is mourning a staff member who was killed in a plane crash in Maine on Sunday.
Shawna Collins was one of six people killed when the private jet they were flying to Paris flipped and caught fire during departure from Bangor in the thick of the winter storm.
“We can confirm with great sadness that a beloved member of our church staff and treasured friend, Shawna Collins, was on the plane that crashed in Maine on Sunday evening,” a spokesperson for Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, told the Christian Post on Wednesday.
“She was a light that brightened our days, and she possessed a beautiful spirit that lifted everyone she met. We loved Shawna dearly, and we will miss her more than words can express. We pray for her entire family and offer them our love and support during this difficult time,” the spokesperson said.
Collins “was traveling for personal business outside of Lakewood,” at the time of the crash, the spokesperson added.
The private jet she was flying in, a Bombardier Challenger 600, had stopped at Bangor International Airport to refuel during the snow and near-zero temperatures, as the massive winter storm swept through the northeast.
The jet was registered to a partner of Houston-based personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers.
Tara Arnold, an attorney at the firm and the wife of founding partner Kurt Arnold, was among those killed in the crash.
The federal investigation into Sunday’s crash has been hampered by extreme weather, with deep snow covering the burned wreckage, Bangor International Airport’s director said Wednesday.
The airport was scheduled to remain closed until Thursday morning at the earliest.
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