Cherokee Pilot Recovering From Deadly Plane Crash

Sign up for the Canton-Sixes Patch newsletter!

---

A Cherokee County pilot who is the sole survivor in last Friday’s plane crash following filming for a new Tom Cruise movie continues to recover from his injuries.

Jimmy Lee Garland was rescued from the wreckage of the twin-engine plane, which crashed into a mountain Sept. 11 near Medellin, Columbia, according to CNN.com.

The plane had just wrapped up filming scenes for “Mena,” and was making the flight back to Medellin when the fatal crash occurred, Fox News Latino states.

Two members of Cruise’s film crew -- Alan Purwin and Carlos Berl -- were killed in the crash, the Los Angeles Times reported. CNN reports Garland suffered injuries to his chest, face, arms and legs, and is hospitalized at Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital.

Cruise plays the lead role in “Mena,” which chronicles the transformation of Barry Seal from a TWA pilot to a drug smuggler for the Medellin cartel. Film and production crews earlier this year spent weeks filming scenes for the movie in northern Cherokee County.

RELATED

• Tom Cruise Movie Will Be Filmed in Ball Ground
• Movie Filming Will Bring More of Hollywood’s A-List to Cherokee County
• PHOTOS: Hollywood Takes Cherokee By Storm

Son Evan Garland informed followers of the Praying For Jimmy Facebook group that his father is currently battling an infection and will be taken off the ventilator and blood pressure medication.

The infection, Garland stated, possibly could have been caused by the many IVs and catheters doctors have used to treat his father. To fight the infection, doctors plan to combine all the IVs and place them into Garland’s jugular vein.

“Please continue to keep dad in your thoughts as we enter (t)his final pull into getting him back to Atlanta,” Evan Garland continued. “He’s overcome so much already, from five surgeries to infection. Nothing can stop him at this point.”

Garland went on to state that the care they are receiving in Medellin has been “on par with that of any hospital” in the United States.

Jimmy Lee Garland is the owner in S&S Aviation, a Fixed Based Operator (FBO) company the Cherokee County Airport Authority has a contract with to run the Regional Airport and lease its accompanying hangars.

Garland provides regular updates about the airport’s operations to the authority at its regular meetings.

Cherokee County Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens said Garland worked closely with the movie crew when they filmed scenes in Ball Ground. They respected his talent so much that they asked him to travel to Columbia and work with them south of the Equator, Ahrens said.

“I think it’s a recognition of his talent and knowledge,” he said, adding Garland is a well-respected and well-known aircraft mechanic.

Ahrens added he hopes Garland continues to recover, and hopes to see him return to Cherokee County soon.

---

Photo credit: Facebook