MERCER, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee businessman was killed when his single-engine plane crashed about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from an airport, officials said.
The plane went down Monday in Mercer, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northeast of Memphis, official said.
The Madison County Fire Department received a call around 9 a.m. and it took them nearly an hour to find the plane, Fire Chief Eric Turner said. The pilot declared an emergency and was trying to make it to McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson, Turner said.
“My understanding is that the pilot had radioed ahead and was experiencing some trouble and then they lost contact with that pilot,” Turner said.
George Cates of Memphis died in the crash, Steve Barlow, president and co-founder of an organization Cates chaired, told news outlets. Barlow is president and co-founder of Neighborhood Preservation Inc., and said he received the news from Cates’ brother.
Cates is the former chairman and CEO of Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. He was 83, according to Mid-America Apartment Communities spokesperson Jennifer Patrick.
Cates, who retired in 2001, approached leadership “with a servant heart and a humble style,” Mid-America Apartment Chairman and CEO H. Eric Bolton Jr. said in a statement.
He was a leader and advocate for his community, Congressman Steve Cohen said in a statement.
“His work as founder and board member of the Overton Park Conservancy was typical of the kind of service for which he will be remembered – bringing people together in public places and preserving nature for future generations,” Cohen said.