Pastor injured in plane crash that killed four now breathing on own; church 'hopeful'
The pastor injured in a Texas plane crash that killed four other members of his church has successfully gone through surgery, Harvest Church posted on Facebook Wednesday morning.
“Kennon (Vaughan) has suffered some significant internal injuries that called for surgery last night,” the Germantown church posted. “He came through that surgery well and has a breathing test this morning to see if he can come off the breathing machine. … Please keep Kennon’s recovery in your prayers and check back here for regular updates.”
The church posted it was “hopeful” since those results will allow Vaughan’s wife to speak with him.
Later, the church posted that Vaughan was breathing on his own and able to communicate some through writing.
"The latest reports from the doctors are all positive," the church posted. "Kennon is currently at one of the top trauma hospitals in the country and we are so thankful for God's provision. Kennon still needs to have some surgeries to repair injuries to his abdomen so please continue to pray for a full recovery."
The Tuesday morning crash killed Bill Garner, executive pastor at Harvest Church, Steve Tucker, an elder at the church, and church staff members Tyler Patterson and Tyler Springer, according to the church. The church is listed under a registry of Southern Baptist churches.
The plane was headed to Yoakum, Texas, and Tucker was pilot of the plane.
The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Agency, which said Tuesday afternoon that the single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed south of the Yoakum Municipal Airport in Yoakum, Texas, on Tuesday morning with five people on board.
Yoakum, Texas, is about two hours and 45 minutes west of Galveston, Texas.
The FAA on Wednesday released the registration number of the single-engine Piper PA-46. The small aircraft was registered to the Germantown-based SCT Enterprises LLC, of which Tucker was the registered agent.
According to the flight tracker website flightaware.com, the plane had left Memphis earlier that morning with a destination of Yoakum Municipal Airport.
A few days earlier, on Jan. 14, the plane had flown from Dallas to Memphis, a return trip after flying from Memphis to Dallas on Jan. 12.
A spokesperson for the NTSB said an investigator from the agency was expected on scene sometime Wednesday to document the scene, examine the aircraft, request any air traffic communications, radar data, weather reports and try to contact any witnesses.
The investigator will also request maintenance records of the aircraft, and medical records and flight history of the pilot.
The NTSB preliminary report may be available in as soon as 10 days, but the full investigation typically takes 12-24 months to complete and determine cause of a crash, the spokesperson said.
A father and a pastor
Vaughan is the founder of Downline Ministries in Memphis, which he established in 2006. He was commissioned to plant Harvest Church in October 2013, according to an archived biography at the church’s website.
“It is such a privilege to pastor a church so loving, so authentic, and so deeply committed to God’s Word and the Great Commission, and I stand in awe at the work God is doing in and through Harvest to make disciples in our community and to the ends of the Earth,” he wrote in the biography.
Vaughan is married and is the father of five sons, according to his Facebook page.
Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Pastor injured in plane crash that killed four comes through surgery
