LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Wednesday afternoon five people lost their lives after a plane crash near the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock.
They were aboard a twin-engine BeechCRAFT 200 KingAIR plane went it went down just after 12:00p.m. During the time of the crash, it was reported that wind gusts were reportedly as high as 40 miles per hour at the airport.
The five victims were all employees of CTEH, a consulting firm that provides response services, including "environmental data collection, and management, GIS, safety, incident management, industrial hygiene, toxicology, and human health consulting for the public and private sectors."
The employees were on their way to Ohio to respond to a factory explosion in the town of Bedford.
According to the EPA, the company, CTEH had been previously working in East Palestine after the train derailment.
On Thursday afternoon the company released the identities of the victims:
- Pilot Sean Sweeney
- Micah Kendrick
- Kyle Bennett
- Gunter Beaty
- Glenmarkus Walker
The company referred to all of the men as valuable members of their team and of their CTEH family.
The family of Gunter Beaty explained that he was family oriented and loved anything outside. His sister expressed that he is deeply missed and that this feels like a dream to their family.
Glenmarkus Walker's family described him as someone kind, loving, and who liked to joke. If you knew him, you loved him. They expressed their sentiments and said that he's a piece of their family that is irreplaceable.
After the crash, the Senior Vice President of CTEH shared the following statement:
"We are incredibly saddened to report the loss of our little rock colleagues. We ask everyone to keep the families of those lost and the entire c-t-e-h team in their thoughts and prayers."
As we work to learn more about the victims and who they were— we've seen many people online showing their support for the families who have lost a loved one.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help support the families of the victims. To make a donation, please click here.