Autopsy complete on Bell Shoals pastor, son

Autopsies were completed Wednesday in North Carolina on the bodies of Bell Shoals Baptist Church Pastor Forrest Pollock and his son, Preston.

Donald Jason, forensic pathologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said both father and son died of multiple injuries sustained in the crash.

Dental records were needed to identify Forrest Pollock.

The bodies are now on en route to Florida, where funeral services will be held Saturday at the church.

The plane carrying the Pollock and his son was intact before it hit the ground, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board reported Wednesday. The Piper Cherokee was found Tuesday morning at an elevation of 4,700 feet above sea level.

Investigators found the plane’s nose, tail and wings in a fairly contained area, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said, indicating that the Piper did not break up in flight. It took NTSB expert Eliott Simpson and his team four hours on Wednesday to reach the site, which lies on the side of Cold Mountain at a grade of 60- to 70 percent. Authorities worked for two hours before rain forced them back down the mountain.

Those harsh conditions will move up the three to five days normally allotted for examining a plane crash at the site, Knudson said. Authorities will check the propeller and nearby trees for marks on either, pore over flight controls and follow trails of spilled fuel. They also expect to soon recover radar data of the flight from the ground.

On Friday or Saturday the team will try to remove the wreckage by helicopter to a secure location in Atlanta, where they will complete an investigation into what caused the crash.

Previous coverage: Pastor, son die in plane crash

Andrew Meacham and Jan Wesner, Times staff writers