NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) local affiliate WKRN is learning more about two Tennesseans killed in a plane crash near Yellowstone National Park.
The father-daughter duo was visiting a family friend when it happened, and all three people were killed.
Madison Conover, 23, recently got her pilot’s license, and her next goal was to fly commercial like her dad, Rodney Conover, for Southwest Airlines.
Madison’s mom, Jennifer Bowman, said she was putting in the hours, mostly from the Tullahoma Regional Airport.
“She had the opportunity to go with her dad to Utah and fly with his friend to build up time,” Jennifer said. “That is what she was doing out there. Any time she got to fly, she took it.”
Madison, Rodney and family friend, Kurt Robey, flew a single-engine Piper plane from Utah to Montana’s Yellowstone Airport.
When they were heading back, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
“There was some weather south of them, so they decided to take another course to go north,” Bowman said. “That’s all we really know at this point.”
“Her location had stopped on her device, and her girlfriend was the first to notice when she woke up at 8 a.m. that Madison hadn’t called,” she said.
National Transportation Safety Board officials said they’re still working on the preliminary report.
“Their dream was that on his very last flight before retirement, that she would be his first officer,” Jennifer said. “We were going to go as a family to witness those two flying together.”
