Flight Instructor, 29, and Teen, Who Dreamed of Becoming a Pilot, Die After Small Plane Crashes and Bursts into Flames
“My baby died doing what he loved,” the teen's mom wrote
Sam Gillette
Wed, January 21, 2026 at 3:06 PM UTC
3 min read
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Wesley Bolden/Facebook; Magnolia Memorial Funeral Home
Wesley Bolden; Jordan Hall.NEED TO KNOW
A flight instructor and a 17-year-old boy died following a small plane crash in Mississippi on Jan. 18
Officials said the aircraft hit a tree shortly after touching down and burst into flame
The teen dreamed of being a pilot, his pastor told a local outlet
A flight instructor and a 17-year-old boy are dead after their small plane crashed into a tree near an airport in Mississippi over the weekend.
On Sunday, Jan. 18, around 5 p.m. local time, Wesley Bolden, 29, and Jordan Hall, 17, were flying a small plane when it crashed into a wooded area east of the Holly Springs-Marshall County Airport in Holly Springs, CBS affiliate WREG, FOX affiliate WHBQ and NBC affiliate WMC-TV reported.
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“It was in a very dense wooded area. It appeared the plane first struck a large pine tree and from there went on to the ground, again, where it burst into flames,” Marshall County Sheriff Kenny Dickerson told WMC-TV. He told WHBQ that they believe the crash occurred shortly after the plane touched down.
Both occupants of the aircraft were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the outlets. It’s unclear who was piloting the single-engine, fixed-wing Piper Cherokee at the time of the crash, WREG reported.
An investigation is ongoing, and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
The tragic incident has rocked the local community. Bolden, a flight instructor, had recently opened his own flight school. He is survived by his fiancée and young daughter, according to the outlet.
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The sheriff knew Bolden and is grieving his death with the rest of the community.
“You couldn’t find better people,” Dickerson told WHBQ of the Bolden family. “Just top-of-the-line, top-class people.”
Following the deadly crash, the people who knew the teen best are also sharing sweet memories.
“My baby died doing what he loved,” Hall’s mom wrote in a tribute, according to the outlet. “We spent Sunday going to church with his girlfriend and he left to drop her off before heading to his flight lesson. That's the last time I saw or will ever see my baby, but I have peace."
Wesley Bolden/Facebook
Wesley Bolden.The teen’s pastor, Freddie Thomas, told WHBQ that he dreamed of becoming a pilot – and was inspired by African American aviators who flew during World War II. Hall even wore a pilot’s uniform while attending service one day during Black History Month at his church in South Memphis, Tenn.
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Magnolia Memorial Funeral Home
Jordan Hall.“Right in the heart of South Memphis, these young men around here saw Jordan as, not as a mentor, but someone to aspire to," Thomas told the outlet. "Just an extremely inspiring young man, filled with aspirations, filled with the love of God, just as gentle as a lamb. Would do anything for you.”
Read the original article on People