Pilot In Fatal Cosby Helicopter Crash Should Not Have Been Flying

A new development in that helicopter crash last week in the Cosby area. The pilot of that helicopter was flying the aircraft after being ordered by a judge not to. Matthew Jones, who was piloting the helicopter is facing federal prosecution for falsely claiming he was a certified flight instructor in Utah…when he was not. A federal magistrate judge had ordered Jones to not fly any aircraft…that warning coming one week before the crash on December 29th. That crash killed his passenger and business associate, Julie Wagner who would have turned 36 this weekend. The FAA’s initial report last week stated the pilot had died in that crash, but that was incorrect as a report from the Cocke County sheriff’s office confirmed that Jones, the pilot, survived.

The NTSB is investigating that crash. So far they have discovered that the chopper was in the air for 8 minutes before it crashed. Weather reports and an eyewitness account lead the NTSB to believe that Jones flew the helicopter into clouds as there was a low ceiling that day and the area where the helicopter went down had very low visibility. According to court documents in Utah, Matthew Jones had used text messages and Instagram to pass himself off as a certified flight instructor and defraud an unidentified party of money…that person was wanted flight lessons for their son. Matthew Jones is currently in stable condition at the UT Medical Center.