Brooks County, Georgia: Pilot remains hospitalized after plane crash

A pilot remains hospitalized, recovering from serious injuries suffered in a weekend plane crash that killed his passenger.

71-year old Larry Boiven was hurt when his plane went down in Brooks County Saturday afternoon.

A former Marine, 31-year old Jared Shilling, was killed.

They were heading back to Florida from the Thomasville Fly-in when something went terribly wrong.

Brooks County Sheriff Mike Dewey says 71-year old Larry Boiven of Bell, Florida who was flying the plane is still at Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville.

"We talked to the pilot for about an hour last night," said Sheriff Dewey. "They removed the wreckage. It's at a place in Monticello and they're going to take the engine apart and find out exactly what happened."

Boiven suffered facial fractures.

"He was cut up pretty bad from debris flying around," said Dewey.

Sadly his passenger 31-year old Jared Shilling died.

"You never know about mechanical failures when they're going to happen and when you're 1,500 to 2,000 feet in the air it's bad," said Dewey.

Sheriff Dewey says both wings hit pine trees.

"Then they nosed down in the dirt and hit another pine tree and the bodies went forward and hit the dashboard and that's where most injuries were sustained," said Dewey.

Sheriff Dewey says it's a miracle the pilot survived. He says Jared Shilling served in Afghanistan as a Marine and returned home about a year ago.

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