Investigators work the scene of a small-engine plane crash Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014, in a field near Ooltewah Industrial Road in Ooltewah, Tenn. The plane's single occupant was killed in the crash.The pilot who died Wednesday in a plane crash in Collegedale, Tenn., has been identified as Don Edens, 44, from Lake City, now known as Rocky Top, Tenn.
Edens made radio contact with Chattanooga air traffic control minutes before the plane crashed, requesting help in an emergency landing.
Edens said on the radio that there was oil all over his windshield, and minutes later that he was not going to make it to the airport. Minutes later, contact between Eden and an air traffic controller was lost, and his plane crashed in a small field at the 9500 block of Ooltewah Industrial Drive.
He was traveling from Knoxville to Jackson, Miss. when the aircraft's engine failed. Specifics are still under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Edens was the only person onboard the Lancair IV-P single-engine plane, and was pronounced dead on the scene.
The plane is owned by Empire Equipment LLC, a Knoxville-based construction company.
See Friday's Times Free Press for more information.
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