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 The twin-engine Gulfstream aircraft was flying from Great Bend,
Kansas. It crashed before 5 p.m. local time in Bellevue, about 15
miles outside of Nashville's John C. Tune Airport, where it was
heading, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said.
The plane was registered to a Kansas company, Federal Aviation
Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
The pilot and passengers had not been identified but were believed
to be related, officials said.
The plane missed its first approach to the airport and was preparing
for a second try when it crashed, leaving a stream of debris for up
to about 80 yards, police said.
"Something caused it to be very low. There is a report that it maybe
banked just a bit, impacted the trees, and went down in that yard
beside the YMCA," said Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron. Three
bodies had been recovered.
"There is no reason to believe that there was any foul play involved
in the crash," Aaron said.
Officials said the plane also missed a nearby retirement village.
The crash, which damaged cars in the YMCA's parking lot, could have
killed dozens of people inside the building, said Jessica Fain, a
spokeswoman for the YMCA of Middle Tennessee.
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"Although members do not check out when leaving our facilities, scan
reports indicate that as many as 300 people likely entered the
building between 3 (p.m.) and 5 p.m.," Fain said.1186572
Area resident Tim Dial told the Tennessean newspaper he was watching
a movie with his wife when he heard the buzzing plane overhead fall
silent, followed by a loud explosion. Outside, he saw a thick plume
of smoke and towering flames.
"It's a miracle it didn't hit anything," he said, according to the
newspaper.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were
investigating the crash.
(Reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Tenn.;
writing by Eric M.
Johnson; editing by Catherine Evans)
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