Five people died, including a UCA alumnus, on Feb. 22 after a twin-engine Beech BE20 crashed while leaving the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The victims were all employees of the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health and include Gunter Beaty, 23, Production Safety Data Manager; Kyle Bennett, 36, Staffing Manager, Logistics; Micah Kendrick, 41, Safety Supervisor and UCA alumnus; Sean Sweeney, 64, Pilot; Glenmarkus Walker, 32, Rapid Responder. 

Kendrick was a Conway native and an active church member at Fellowship Bible Church in Conway. He received a bachelor’s in environmental science from UCA in 2013.

Left to cherish memories are his wife Jordan, and his two sons Sawyer and Wyatt. 

Kendrick was known as a loving father and husband, prioritizing his son’s knowledge of the gospel. 

“His greatest priorities in life were his family and God, spending quality time with his sons, reading them God’s Word and making sure they knew the Lord,” Kendrick’s obituary stated. 

Kendrick had a love for the outdoors, and he enjoyed snowboarding, surfing, wakeboarding, skateboarding and paddle boarding. 

“Micah was passionate about life and took every opportunity to ‘do something fun’ with his family and friends,” his obituary states. 

Kendrick was a hard worker and enjoyed his work as a Safety Supervisor at CTEH. 

A memorial service was held for Kendrick at Fellowship Bible Church on March 4.

On the day of the crash, around 12 p.m., there were intermittent storms, and The National Weather Service released warnings for 50 mph winds.

Only two minutes after 12 p.m., authorities were alerted of the crash.

The employees were “responding to an incident at the Schumann and Company metals plant in Bedford, Ohio,” Denver Peacock, a public relations firm said in a written statement.

The incident in Ohio, an explosion, killed one and injured 13.

Senior Vice President of CTEH, Paul Nony said in an email, “We are incredibly saddened to report the loss of our Little Rock colleagues. We ask everyone to keep the families of those lost and the entire CTEH team in their thoughts and prayers.” 

The National Transportation Safety Board’s statement said, “Once on scene, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. Part of the investigation will be to request radar data, weather information, air traffic control communication, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records. NTSB investigators will look at the human, machine and environment as the outline of the investigation.”