14 September 2017

According to a preliminary report issued on the 13th September 2017 by the National Transportation Safety Board, engine problems caused the helicopter crash which took the lives of both Montgomery Gentry singer Troy Gentry, and pilot James Evan Robinson. Shortly after takeoff, Robinson reported that the aircraft was going through mechanical problems, and following a discussion with experts on the ground, Robinson elected to stop the engine and perform an automation. This was a familiar procedure to Robinson, and one that he had performed several times in the past, with the aim of gliding the helicopter down to a runway at the Flying W Airport in Medford, Oregon. However, the helicopter quickly went down and crashed into a wooded area close to the airport. Gentry, aged 50, was half of the acclaimed country music duo Montgomery Gentry, who had won many awards. The crash took place mere hours before the duo were meant to take to a stage at a resort at the airport, and the National Transportation Safety Board report stated that Gentry went up in the helicopter purely for pleasure before the gig. The other members of the band – including the other half of the pair in Eddie Montgomery – were at the airport when the crash took place. Gentry was born in Lexington, Kentucky, which is where he met Montgomery, with the duo forming an act based from their surnames. On the 14th September, a public memorial ceremony will be held for Gentry at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.