YouTuber, dad killed in plane crash 1 month after ‘aircraft malfunction’ close call - noob amateur pilot and YouTuber, TNFlygirl, 43, kills self and Dad in high speed plane crash

https://nypost.com/2023/12/10/news/tennessee-aviation-youtuber-jenny-blalock-dad-killed-in-plane-crash/

A popular aviation YouTuber and her father were killed when their plane crashed in Tennessee Thursday — just one month after she posted a video of her facing an “aircraft malfunction” at 4,000 feet.

Jenny Blalock, 45, and her father James, 78, went down around 11 a.m. and crashed on a remote road in Pulaski, a city on the central-southern border of Alabama, according to federal and county officials.

Their bodies were discovered outside the plane, which landed in a “remote” area that was difficult for crews to reach.

“It was just devastating. It was significant damage again. Unfortunately, there were just no survivors,” Bill Myers, director of the Giles County Office of Emergency Management, told 10 News.



The father-and-daughter pair had traveled 180 miles from Knoxville when the aircraft plummeted, FlightAware data shows. They were roughly 10 miles short of landing at a city-owned airport.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but it comes just a month after Blalock — known in the community as TNFlyGirl — posted a video of herself executing an emergency landing during an “aircraft malfunction” from 4,000 feet in the air.


“Are we going to make it?” she eerily asks her flight instructor after he points out the plane’s battery had died mid-flight.


Later, she discovered that the plane also had screws loose on its regulator.

Despite the harrowing ordeal, Blalock remained calm and expertly landed the aircraft without issue.

“God bless and fly safe,” the well-known YouTuber told her 16,000 subscribers.

According to her account, she was a “private pilot, flying for fun in a Beechcraft Debonair.”

Blalock, who also is a luxury home builder and designer, frequently filmed her flying excursions with her father since launching her popular channel in 2021.

Their fatal flight appeared to be one of the first the pair had taken together “in a while,” according to a video Blalock posted in November.
Jenny and her dad were not just daughter/father, they were best friends and did EVERYTHING together!” her partner, Brett Thees, said on Facebook.

The Blalock family issued a statement saying they take comfort in knowing the father-daughter pair “were together when they met our Lord and Savior!”

 

[HerrKlicks]

Women flyers, am I right?

Yeah, Cessna planes are known as "Doctor Killers" for a reason. As to it being "fun" or not, well... everyone's gotta die some time. Might as well enjoy yourself by doing dangerous shit at high speed until then. I don't think Jay Leno's going to complain overmuch if he meets St. Peter reeking of smoke and gasoline and with a piece of car frame wrapped around his body.

The doctor killer is the nickname of the early Beech Bonanza V-Tail. It earned that not because it was so unsafe but a lot of airplane in terms of performance and handling. Couple that with the price tag only making it accessible for very well to do private pilots (hence doctor) that may not fly a lot of hours in a year and you have accidents waiting to happen.

 

[Long Tongue Silver]

The doctor killer is the nickname of the early Beech Bonanza V-Tail. It earned that not because it was so unsafe but a lot of airplane in terms of performance and handling. Couple that with the price tag only making it accessible for very well to do private pilots (hence doctor) that may not fly a lot of hours in a year and you have accidents waiting to happen.

You're telling me the Bonanza V-Tail was the Dodge Charger of airplanes?

 

[1Tonka_Truck]

The doctor killer is the nickname of the early Beech Bonanza V-Tail

Bonanzas in general and Debonairs aren't too far behind. Jokes about the pilots being so far behind the aircraft it's a miracle they were found at the crash site abound.

You're telling me the Bonanza V-Tail was the Dodge Charger of airplanes?

More like the 911 GT3 of airplanes. Not for poors and even easier to wrap around a power pole.

 

[Cpl. Long Dong Silver]

This guy did a preliminary analysis of the known information, and some of her historical flight videos. His suspicion is that it was pilot error based on misuse of the auto-pilot.

What the fuck are you using an autopilot for a single engine aircraft? I'm suspecting she barely got her pilots license and had bad habits.

I have my PPL and I've never thought to use auto pilot. That's for Airline Transport Bigboys with complicated systems. I'd much rather stay in control and maintain situational awareness. But then I'm not trying to shoot pictures or record YouTube videos when I fly.

 

[HerrKlicks]

What the fuck are you using an autopilot for a single engine aircraft? I'm suspecting she barely got her pilots license and had bad habits.

I have my PPL and I've never thought to use auto pilot. That's for Airline Transport Bigboys with complicated systems. I'd much rather stay in control and maintain situational awareness. But then I'm not trying to shoot pictures or record YouTube videos when I fly.

She had 400hrs so not a total noob but she was definitely more concerned getting pretty pictures and asspats from her subscribers than actually flying the damn plane.

As posted above I am just a mere sim jockey but I do see a place and use for AP even in single engine piston airplanes - but it should be used as such. A tool. To help manage your workload so you can stay ahead of the flight and aircraft while maintaining situational awareness and avoiding task situation in high workload phases of flight, especially when flying IFR.

 

[Apteryx Retardi]

You're telling me the Bonanza V-Tail was the Dodge Charger of airplanes?

That would probably be Cessna 337.

 

[Cpl. Long Dong Silver]

She had 400hrs so not a total noob but she was definitely more concerned getting pretty pictures and asspats from her subscribers than actually flying the damn plane.

As posted above I am just a mere sim jockey but I do see a place and use for AP even in single engine piston airplanes - but it should be used as such. A tool. To help manage your workload so you can stay ahead of the flight and aircraft while maintaining situational awareness and avoiding task situation in high workload phases of flight, especially when flying IFR.

You are correct on both points and I agree. She probably got behind the aircraft and then compounded it with human factors. You sim with Flight Simulator or?

 

[HerrKlicks]

You are correct on both points and I agree. She probably got behind the aircraft and then compounded it with human factors. You sim with Flight Simulator or?

Both MS Flight Sim and X-Plane.
Allows me to enjoy the amazing stuff for both Sims

 

[Code991]

What the fuck are you using an autopilot for a single engine aircraft? I'm suspecting she barely got her pilots license and had bad habits.

I have my PPL and I've never thought to use auto pilot. That's for Airline Transport Bigboys with complicated systems. I'd much rather stay in control and maintain situational awareness. But then I'm not trying to shoot pictures or record YouTube videos when I fly.

Lots of people I know started their flight training on a G1000 or other glass equipped plane and I think it really makes them feel dependent on the systems/automation to fly. Even in planes with a traditional 6-pack they seem to carry over this tendency.

 

[TheGoodNamesHaveBeenTaken]

This just in.
Long blonde hair, make up, cut off shorts, yoga pants and low cut tops may fool your flight instructor but physics remains unimpressed.

 

[Bowl of Ramen]

What the fuck are you using an autopilot for a single engine aircraft? I'm suspecting she barely got her pilots license and had bad habits.

I have my PPL and I've never thought to use auto pilot. That's for Airline Transport Bigboys with complicated systems. I'd much rather stay in control and maintain situational awareness. But then I'm not trying to shoot pictures or record YouTube videos when I fly.

I know next to nothing about this chick - wasn’t her dad her instructor?

 

[whatever I feel like]

"Jenny and her dad were not just daughter/father, they were best friends and did EVERYTHING together!”

Gross.

Anyways, sounds sad, never gonna be happy when someone dies in the air.

 

[The Gene Genie]

This guy did a preliminary analysis of the known information, and some of her historical flight videos. His suspicion is that it was pilot error based on misuse of the auto-pilot.

Really good video, even if some of the technical details went in one ear and out the other for me. I have a sneaking feeling that the NTSB will probably come to the same conclusion this guy.

This is what happens when you don’t understand your equipment and don’t bother to learn. You die.

 

[WonderWino]

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'Its not stupidity its faulty judgement!'

....in other words its stupidity. She made a stupid call and got herself and her father killed. Within weeks of making a similar stupid call and nearly getting herself and an instructor killed

The thing with those comments is, they don’t generally give pilot’s licenses to absolute morons. You have to put in a lot of hours of actual flying.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've known a few commercial pilots and a couple of them are some of the stupidest people i've ever met. Its more about the money that you can put into getting the license than actual competency. This is even more apparent when you spend time around the people that operate air shows

 

[God's drunkest driver]

The thing with those comments is, they don’t generally give pilot’s licenses to absolute morons. You have to put in a lot of hours of actual flying.

There are plenty of absolute idiots with pilots licenses. Just browse through the crash reports and find a bunch of people making impressively retarded calls and dying. GA flying is expensive, not hard, unless you're getting into competition aerobatics or something. Just flying from point A to point B is easy until things go wrong, and the schooling needed to get a PPL and IFR certificate is trivial for anyone who can memorize rules, regulations and basic systems. Flight school, even at the CFI level is not difficult, it's probably business degree level of difficulty. Especially since the inception of the 1500hr rule, most instructors are young pilots looking to build hours to get an ATP certificate, many of them are barely qualified to teach. These young pilots have never had anything other than mundane flight school experience until the DPE "simulates" something during the exam, it's not a personal failing of theirs, they just are not experienced. Young CFIs are like middle school athletics coaches; just because they're teaching doesn't mean they were ever good at what is being taught.

This lady, at face value from looking at some of her videos, seems to be just another wealthy private pilot with mediocre skills. Flying as a hobby is incredibly expensive even if you're renting these days, and the sky is the limit for ownership costs. She was flying a C33, one of the cheapest of the Bonanza family, but it's still a 6cyl, complex, IFR airplane. That's going to cost you $180/hr+ to operate and probably $150,000+ to buy the plane, though that depends heavily on airframe condition and hours on the engine. The engine overhaul alone is going to pro rate out to $20/hr+ if you buy a freshly overhauled one. You can buy a cheap 60+ year old two seater and maybe spend $100/hr operating it, including pro-rating the engine overhaul and airframe inspections, but that's as cheap as it gets flying certified aircraft.

 

[Peaches the Wonder Cat]

Her flight instructor has to remind her to pull her gear up @ 1:40. Then they deal with ATC who is upset because their altitude is 900 feet off @ 4:00.

Pilots of America are having none of this,

EDIT: According to some YouTube comments, she fired her second flight instructor because he forbid cameras in the cockpit.

 

[Heed Not]

EDIT: According to some YouTube comments, she fired her second flight instructor because he forbid cameras in the cockpit.

That was mentioned in either Dan or Juan's video too. Despite having no interest in flying I've been keeping up with those two channels since they do breakdowns on aviation fatals. And of course they both reached the same conclusion. In fact they pointed out that she probably didn't even read the autopilot manual because in her last flight recording she's using it incorrectly the entire time.

 

[Cpl. Long Dong Silver]

Lots of people I know started their flight training on a G1000 or other glass equipped plane and I think it really makes them feel dependent on the systems/automation to fly. Even in planes with a traditional 6-pack they seem to carry over this tendency.

I'm glad I'm old and started on a Piper Cherokee

 

[Twinkie]

From the comments on this video, someone who claimed to know Jenny and had offered to accompany her and her dad on this flight. The video itself is also worth a watch.

 

[Merried Senior Comic]

"Jenny and her dad were not just daughter/father, they were best friends and did EVERYTHING together!”

Gross.

Anyways, sounds sad, never gonna be happy when someone dies in the air.

They didn’t die in the air. They died when their bodies made a high-velocity impact with the ground.