Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991                   TAG: 9103170094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

JET CRASHES CARRYING SINGER'S BAND; 10 KILLED

There were no survivors, said Elly Brekke, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

McEntire, who had given a private concert Friday night in San Diego, was not on the jet, said spokeswoman Jenny Bohler.

"Needless to say, Reba is very upset. They all had been with her a long time. They were like family," Bohler said.

The Hawker Siddeley twin-engine jet crashed at 1:45 a.m. in rugged canyon country about 25 miles southeast of downtown San Diego. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

The plane, bound for Amarillo, Texas, had just taken off from Brown Field, a private airfield about 15 miles southeast of San Diego and 4 miles north of the Mexican border. Personnel at the U.S. Navy's North Island Naval Air Station, about 15 miles away from where the plane crashed, reported seeing a fireball as it went down about 5 miles northeast of 3,556-foot Otay Mountain, Brekke said.

Bohler said the 10 people aboard included McEntire's tour manager, Jim Hammon, band leader and keyboardist Kirk Cappello, vocalist Paula Kaye Evans, guitarists Michael Thomas and Terry Jackson, keyboardist Joey Cigainero, drummer Tony Saputo and Chris Austin, a vocalist who played fiddle and acoustic guitar.

Also killed in the crash were pilot Don Holms and co-pilot Chris Hollinger, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

Keywords:
FATALITY