Small plane crash near Great Smoky Mountains crash kills 3, including boy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Officials said

in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Crews were searching for Hunter Starling, 8, his father David Starling and his father's girlfriend Kim Smith of Bradford County after a small plane they were on crashed in Tennessee.

The aircraft was found Tuesday at approximately 4:43 p.m. between Cole Creek and Bearpen Hollow Branch.

Paramedics were hoisted down to the crash site and confirmed there were no survivors, a National Park Service spokesperson said.

The plane left the Jacksonville area on Monday, according to officials.

It was reported missing Tuesday after family members reported it did not arrive in Tennessee as expected.

The boy's mother reacted earlier Tuesday on social media after the Jacksonville-area plane disappeared.

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On Facebook, mother Tabitha Starling wrote, "Please pray for my baby. He is missing and his dad and girlfriend also."

The 8-year-old boy, Hunter Starling, and his father, David Starling, were on board when their Jacksonville, Florida, aircraft was reported missing Tuesday in Tennessee. David Starling's girlfriend, Kim Smith, was also on the aircraft before it went missing.

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The Federal Aviation Administration said it issued an alert notice Monday night advising public safety agencies and the U.S. National Park Service that the Cessna-182 aircraft was about 15 miles south-southeast of Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport. The flight started at an airport in the Jacksonville, Florida, and was headed to Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport, FAA said. The plane is registered to David Starling, according to the FAA registry.

The National Park Service confirmed its search for the missing plane in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The FAA issued the search alert when a concerned family member notified the agency that the flight didn't arrive as expected.

The National Park Service released a statement saying the single-engine plane probably went down somewhere in the ridges southwest of Mount LeConte Lodge on Dec. 26.

Civil Air patrol conducted an aerial search Monday, but had no success.

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center was able to use information from McGhee Tyson Airport tower radar and the plane’s emergency locator transmitter to determine a specific area where the plane is most likely located, the National Park Service said in the statement.

The AFRCC has reported that the plane was in conversations with air traffic controllers at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, but there is no additional information on these conversations yet. Information on passengers on board has not been confirmed.

Smith's friends said they are planning a prayer event Tuesday night at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.

Cox Media Group