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802 Coleman Blvd., Suite 200, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina 29464

Florence doctor dies in plane crash in AR

By Whitney Hill, WMBF News

FLORENCE, SC (WMBF) – A Florence man died in a plane crash on Sunday, August 23, in Union County, Arkansas, according to Union County Coroner Curtis Butterfield.

Dr. John Steven Jobe, age 51, was flying a flight from Florence Regional Airport to South Arkansas Regional Airport, according to the Flight Aware website and Coroner Butterfield.

Coroner Butterfield says Dr. Jobe died of blunt force trauma and Jobe’s body and plane were engulfed by fire.

The crash happened around 12:15 p.m. Sunday at the South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.

Union County Sheriff Mike McGough said they received a call of a plane going down near the runway in a wooded area. McGough said area residents reported hearing and feeling the impacts of the crash. When authorities got to the scene, they found a small, private plane and the pilot deceased.

An autopsy and toxicology tests will be performed on Jobe’s body in Little Rock, Arkansas on Monday, Coroner Butterfield states.

Coroner Butterfield says Jobe’s plane likely ran out of gas due to him being re-routed because of storms in the area and that there were winds in El Dorado during the time of the crash.

The crash happened near magnolia highway in a wooded area and the five units that were dispatched to the scene were able to get the fire put out, according to Bill Hickman, Chief Deputy Union County Sheriff’s Office.

Jobe was on a two-week vacation that included stops at the Grand Canyon.

Jobe practiced medicine atPee Dee Pathology.

On Monday, the office released this following statement to WMBF News.

“We are deeply sadden by the loss of our colleague and friend. John was an integral part of the practice for 17 years and carried deeply for our patients

He will be sorely missed,” said Dr.Dr. Tarek M. Bishara.

Jobe’s neighbors decribe him as a nice, but private man.

“It’s crazy to think about because he was always there. He was just John, always around it weird to think about…it’s just strange,” said Mason Mclamb who lived next door to Jobe.

He was a graduate of the University of Tennessee–Knoxville.

Jobe is survived by two brothers and his father.

The National Transportation Safety Board is on scene, investigating the plane crash.

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