BALDWIN COUNTY – Fifteen minutes after the Beechcraft Bonanza departed Jack Edwards National airport in Gulf Shores it crashed in a heavily wooded area near Stapleton, Alabama. According to media reports from South Alabama outlets and local Shoals sources, there were two fatalities. Our local source reports that the aircraft is owned by a Limited Liability Corporation that is connected with Tim Rhodes, who is a principal in Tim Rhodes Properties, LLC.
It has been confirmed that the people killed in the crash are Tim Rhodes and his wife Doris.
It has been reported by several news outlets, including WKRG, Channel 5 in Mobile, and the website FlightAware.com, the 6 seat aircraft dropped off radar about 16 minutes after it departed the Jack Edwards National Airport in Gulf Shores about 6:45 PM. Reports indicate that the Air Traffic Control Tower at Edwards picked up a distress call from the airplane shortly before it went down. there was a Coast Guard helicopter flying a training mission in the Stapleton area. It located the crash site, and directed emergency responders to the crash location. The location is a heavily wooded area with dense vegetation, making nighttime rescue operations difficult. When the emergency reached the crash scene by all-terrain-vehicles, they found the 2 fatalities. The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office reports that the County Coroner’s Office and NTSB will conduct the investigation. It isn’t known whether there were other people aboard the Bonanza.
