A former Oklahoma Christian University baseball player was one of two people killed in a Jan. 5 plane crash near Gurdon, Ark., according to a news report.
While the National Transportation Safety Board is not officially releasing the identities of those killed in the crash, the sports information department of Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, Okla., identified one of the crash victims as 40-year-old Jimmy Kent.
The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration have been investigating the crash and a preliminary report is expected to be completed by Friday. A final report may require a year or 18 months, according to NTSB procedures.
Kent, originally from Tulsa, transferred to OCU from Abilene Christian before the 1998 season. He hit .361 for the Eagles as a junior that year, playing for coach Johnny Inman, according to the university's news report.
In 1999, the infielder-designated hitter was OCU's sole representative on the All-Sooner Athletic Conference first-team list after hitting .426 with six home runs, 43 RBIs and a team-leading 53 runs scored.
Kent led the SAC that season with a .545 on-base percentage and also had 17 doubles and two triples while posting a slugging percentage of .689.
OCU Athletic Hall of Famer Clint Vaughn was Kent's teammate in 1998 and reconnected with him last November at a funeral they both attended. Vaughn said that Kent worked in land development, lived north of Dallas and had just been married in November, according to the news report.
"He was always looking for laughs in college," Vaughn said in the article. "Back then, he always joked around and was a fun-loving guy, a life-of-the-party type. He was a good, solid player for us."
Kent was a former All-Sooner Athletic Conference baseball player for Oklahoma Christian.
The FFA said the aircraft reported engine trouble and began descending and the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center lost the signal. The aircraft was traveling from McKinney, Texas, to Franklin, N.C.
The Arkansas State Police helicopter was requested to start searching the area near Gurdon at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5, said ASP Trooper Liz Chapman.
Ground crews found the wreckage and located two deceased persons, said Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson.
The online flight tracing site FlightAware.com showed only one flight plan between the two communities. According to its data, the flight departed about 11:45 a.m. and reached an altitude of just below 25,000 feet. In the five minutes before the crash, it dropped about 5,000 feet before the data stopped over southwestern Arkansas.