Billionaire Helicopter Crash
One of the seven people killed in a Thursday helicopter crash involving billionaire Chris Cline was identified as a Kenner native who attended Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans. Jillian Clark. Billionaire Dies in Helicopter Crash Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha owned an English Premier League team By Newser Editors and Wire Services.
Chris Cline, billionaire coal mining entrepreneur from West Virginia, died in a helicopter crash that killed everyone aboard in the Bahamas on Thursday. He was 60.
Six other people also died in the helicopter that crashed off Grand Cay island on its way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Bahamian police said.
A statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the helicopter went missing shortly after leaving Big Grand Cay and authorities and local residents later found the crash site two miles off Grand Cay.
According to a Facebook post by West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Evan Jenkins, Cline’s daughter also may have been one of the seven passengers who died in the crash.
“His selfless and generous support for programs and projects throughout the state improved the lives of countless West Virginians,” Jenkins wrote on Facebook. “His life’s story was one of hard work, love of family and caring support for others.”
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West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and Jerome A. Gilbert, president of Cline’s alma mater Marshall University, also expressed their sympathies on social media.
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“Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend,” Justice tweeted Thursday. “Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man.”
“Our hearts are heavy with the terrible news this evening of the passing of prominent Son of Marshall Chris Cline,” Gilbert wrote on Twitter. “Chris’s generosity to our research and athletics programs has made a mark on Marshall University. I am praying for his family.”
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Bahamian police did not provide a cause of the crash but said an investigation with civil aviation authorities was underway.
Cline began working in the coal mining industry in West Virginia in 1980 at the age of 22, according to The New York Times. He founded the Cline Group in 1990, an energy development group, and Foresight Energy in 2006, the Times reported.
In addition to creating a coal mining empire, he was also a well-known philanthropist and donor to the Republican party.
He donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inauguration event, according to the Open Secrets site run by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign donations. He also donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting the presidential campaign of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2015, according to Bloomberg News.
Contributing: Associated Press. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT
MORE ON JILLIAN CLARK: Clark was also listed as a member of the LSU Phi Mu sorority along with one of Cline's daughters, Kameron. Indicated at least one of Cline's two daughters was on the helicopter.Clark’s family flew to the Bahamas early Friday morning to work with authorities and identify her body.Mount Carmel coach April Hagadone said Clark was 'a beautiful girl in the inside and out,' having coached her to two state titles as she held the position of setter, which she likened to that of the quarterback of a football team.
'It's just devastating for the Mount Carmel community, her friends and her family,' Hagadone said. 'Everyone is still in shock.'
Bahamian police superintendent Shanta Knowles said they responded to a missing aircraft report from Florida, and were told that Cline, a billionaire coal tycoon from West Virginia, and a group of Americans failed to arrive as expected in Fort Lauderdale.The bodies of the four women and three men have been taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified, Knowles said. The helicopter was still in the water, and based on preliminary information, she did not believe there had been a distress call before it went down.Aviation safety investigators in the Bahamas are working to determine the cause of a helicopter crash that killed seven Americans.Check back for updatesstaff reporter Ramon Antonio Vargas and The Associated Press contributed to this report. This post was updated to correct the relative who flew to the Bahamas.