US billionaire among 7 killed in Bahamas helicopter crash

NASSAU, Bahamas — Billionaire coal entrepreneur Chris Cline, who worked his way out of West Virginia’s underground mines to amass a fortune and become a major Republican donor, was killed in a helicopter crash along with six other Americans, his lawyer’s office confirmed on Friday.

Cline and his 22-year-old daughter Kameron were on board the aircraft when it went down Thursday, said Joe Carey, a spokesman for attorney Brian Glasser, who planned to issue a family statement.

Leaders of industry, government and academics in West Virginia eulogized Cline as a coal industry visionary and a generous giver.

“He was a very farsighted entrepreneur,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “Chris was just one of those folks who had the Midas touch.”

Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.8 billion this year. Cline donated heavily to President Trump and other Republicans. Federal records show he gave the president’s inaugural committee $1 million in 2017 and spread thousands more to conservative groups as well as committees representing prominent Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

The bodies of the four women and three men were recovered and taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified, said Bahamas Police Supt. Shanta Knowles. The helicopter was still in the water, and based on preliminary information, she did not believe there had been a distress call before it went down.

A Royal Bahamas Police Force statement said authorities and local residents found the crash site two miles off Big Grand Cay, group of private islands Cline owned.

Aviation safety investigators in the Bahamas are working to determine the cause, said Jaime Nixon, an aviation safety analyst for the Air Accident Investigation Department of the Bahamas. </s> This post was originally published on this site

WORLD NEWS Billionaire coal executive dies in apparent helicopter crash in the Bahamas https://linewsradio.com/billionaire-coal-executive-dies-in-apparent-helicopter-crash-in-the-bahamas/ http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/

bauhaus1000/iStock(NEW YORK) — Billionaire coal executive Chris Cline was killed in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas on Thursday.

Cline, who founded the Cline Group and later Foresight Energy and built himself into one of the preeminent coal producers in the country, was one of seven people on a helicopter that crashed near Grand Cay on the Fourth of July, according to his lawyer Brian Glasser.

Four women and three men were killed in the crash, which took off from Big Grand Cay for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at about 2 a.m. on Thursday. The helicopter was reported missing just before 3 p.m., according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

One of Cline’s daughters, friends of the family and the pilot were also among those killed, Glasser said.

Bahamas officials did not confirm Cline was on board, however, they did identify the helicopter by tail number. The helicopter was owned by Cline’s Challenger Management LLC.

The helicopter was later found overturned in about 16 feet of water off Grand Cay, where the seven bodies were recovered from the aircraft.

The Department of Civil Aviation and Royal Bahamas Police and Defense Force are investigating the accident.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a coal industry executive himself, mourned the loss of his friend, writing, “Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend. Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire – Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man. Cathy and I are praying for his family and all those involved in this tragedy.”

West Virginia state Sen. Sue Cline, who represents the state’s 9th District, confirmed her friend had died in the helicopter crash in a response to Justice on Twitter.

“Prayers for Family and friends of my great friend Chris Cline and his daughter Cameron and her dear friends who we loss (sic) today in a helicopter crash,” she wrote. “Chris was a exceptional human being and we all loved him so much. Such a loss for all 7 aboard today. Our hearts are broken.”

The executive founded Foresight Energy in 2006 when he bought mining rights in Illinois and struck it big. Forbes estimated Cline’s worth at $1.8 billion at the time of his death. He was ranked as the 388th-richest person in America in 2017.

Cline was also a supporter of President Donald Trump, a friend to the coal industry. In his 2018 State of the Union address, Trump proclaimed he “ended the war on American energy — and we have ended the war on beautiful, clean coal.”

He donated $1 million to Trump’s 2017 inauguration fund. During the 2016 presidential campaign, however, Cline actually donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush, according to The New York Times.

Cline died one day before his 61st birthday.

Marshall University, which Cline attended, named its athletic complex after him following a $5 million donation to the school.

“Our hearts are heavy with the terrible news this evening of the passing of prominent Son of Marshall Chris Cline,” Marshall President Jerome Gilbert said on Twitter. “Chris’s generosity to our research and athletics programs has made a mark on Marshall University. I am praying for his family.”

Cline also dated Elin Nordegren, the ex-wife and mother of Tiger Woods’ two children, for several years.

The billionaire owned a house in North Palm Beach near the mansion Woods used to share with Nordegren. He was divorced and a father of four children. </s> NASSAU, The Bahamas — Billionaire coal entrepreneur Chris Cline, who worked his way out of West Virginia's underground mines to amass a fortune and become a major Republican donor, was killed in a helicopter crash along with six other Americans, his lawyer's office confirmed on Friday.

Cline and his 22-year-old daughter Kameron were on board the aircraft when it went down Thursday, said Joe Carey, a spokesman for attorney Brian Glasser, who planned to issue a family statement later Friday.

Leaders of industry, government and academics in West Virginia eulogized Cline as a coal industry visionary and a generous giver.

"He was a very farsighted entrepreneur," said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. "Chris was just one of those folks who had the Midas touch."

Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.8 billion this year. Cline donated heavily to President Donald Trump and other Republicans. Federal records show he gave the president's inaugural committee $1 million in 2017 and spread thousands more to conservative groups as well as committees representing prominent Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Bahamas Police Supt. Shanta Knowles told The Associated Press that they began searching when police received a report from Florida that Cline's helicopter failed to arrive in Fort Lauderdale as expected on Thursday.

The bodies of the four women and three men were recovered and taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified, Knowles said. The helicopter was still in the water, and based on preliminary information, she did not believe there had been a distress call before it went down.

A Royal Bahamas Police Force statement said authorities and local residents found the crash site two miles off Big Grand Cay, group of private islands Cline owned.

Knowles said that preliminary information suggests there was no distress call before it went down. The helicopter was still in the water Friday, and She said a specialized ship was coming from Florida with equipment to pull the helicopter from the water.

Aviation safety investigators in the Bahamas are working to determine the cause, said Jaime Nixon, an aviation safety analyst for the Air Accident Investigation Department of the Bahamas. The Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority told the Federal Aviation Administration that the Augusta AW139 helicopter was located in the water at about 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Cline started in the coal industry at 22 years old, working in an underground mine in southern West Virginia, as his father and grandfather did, according to a biography on one of his companies' websites.

He quickly moved into management roles and soon formed his own energy development company, the Cline Group, which grew into one of the country's top coal producers.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tweeted that he "lost a very close friend" in Cline, "a WV superstar."

"Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man," Justice tweeted.

Cline also donated $5 million to support West Virginia's Marshall University Sports Medicine Institute and another $3.5 million for the school's athletics foundation.

"Our hearts are heavy," said Marshall University President Jerome A. Gilbert. "Chris's generosity to our research and athletics programs has made a mark on Marshall University and our students for many years to come." </s> In this Sept. 6, 2014 photo, Chris Cline speaks with media as Marshall University dedicates the new indoor practice facility as the Chris Cline Athletic Complex in Huntington, W.Va. Police in the Bahamas say a helicopter flying from Big Grand Cay island to Fort Lauderdale has crashed, killing seven Americans on board. None of the bodies recovered from the downed helicopter have been identified, but police Supt. Shanta Knowles told The Associated Press on Friday, July 5, 2019, that the missing-aircraft report from Florida said billionaire Chris Cline was on board. (Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP)

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — The Latest on a helicopter crash that killed seven people in the Bahamas (all times local):

A spokesman for the attorney of Chris Cline is confirming that the billionaire coal entrepreneur and his daughter were among the seven Americans killed in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas.

Joe Carey is a spokesman for Cline’s lawyer in West Virginia, Brian Glasser. He says Cline and his 22-year-old daughter Kameron were on board the aircraft when it went down.

Authorities in the Bahamas have recovered seven bodies from the helicopter that crashed as it traveled from the island to Fort Lauderdale.

Cline worked his way up from West Virginia’s underground mines to become one of the country’s top coal producers and amass a $1.8 billion fortune.

He donated extensively to President Donald Trump and other Republican politicians.

Leaders of industry, government and academics in West Virginia are describing billionaire Chris Cline as a coal industry visionary and a generous giver.

Police in the Bahamas tell The Associated Press they were told to look for a missing helicopter carrying Cline and six other Americans. The bodies of seven people have since been recovered from the downed helicopter, and authorities are working to identify them.

Cline grew up dirt-poor and worked his way up from the state’s underground mines to become a billionaire, with a Florida mansion and his own island chain in the Bahamas.

West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney described him as “a very farsighted entrepreneur” with a “Midas touch.”

Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.8 billion this year. Cline donated heavily to President Donald Trump and other Republicans. Federal records show he gave the president’s inaugural committee $1 million in 2017 and spread thousands more to conservative groups as well as committees representing prominent Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

He also gave at least $8.5 million to Marshall University.

Aviation safety investigators in the Bahamas are working to determine the cause of a helicopter crash that killed seven Americans.

None of the bodies recovered from the downed helicopter have been identified, but police Supt. Shanta Knowles told The Associated Press on Friday that the missing-aircraft report from Florida said billionaire Chris Cline was on board. She said the group of Americans from Big Grand Cay failed to arrive as expected in Fort Lauderdale. Cline was a billionaire coal tycoon and has been major donor to Republican politicians.

Jaime Nixon is an aviation safety analyst for the Air Accident Investigation Department of the Bahamas . She said a specialized ship was coming from Florida with equipment to pull the helicopter from the water.

The Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority told the Federal Aviation Administration that the Augusta AW139 helicopter was located in the water at about 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Police in the Bahamas say the bodies of seven Americans in a downed helicopter have been taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified.

Police superintendent Shanta Knowles said they responded to a missing aircraft report from Florida, and were told that billionaire Chris Cline and a group of Americans from Big Grand Cay failed to arrive as expected in Fort Lauderdale. Cline, a billionaire coal tycoon, has been major donor to Republican politicians.

Knowles said information was preliminary and subject to change, but she did not believe there had been a distress call from the aircraft.

She said she believed that the helicopter was still in the water.

Police in the Bahamas say a helicopter flying from Big Grand Cay island to Fort Lauderdale has crashed, killing seven Americans on board.

A statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the cause of Thursday’s crash two miles off Grand Cay was under investigation.

It did not provide the names of the people killed but identified them as four women and three men.

It said police and civil aviation authorities were probing the crash. </s> Christopher Cline, the billionaire coal tycoon best known for reviving Illinois’ mining industry and making a fortune doing it, was among seven people killed in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas, his lawyer’s office confirmed Friday. He was 60 years old.

Cline and his 22-year-old daughter, Kameron, were on the aircraft when it went down Thursday, said Joe Carey, a spokesman for attorney Brian Glasser. The helicopter was carrying seven Americans to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when it crashed, killing everyone aboard, Bahamian police said.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said that the helicopter went missing shortly after leaving Big Grand Cay and that authorities and local residents later found the crash site two miles off Grand Cay. Police identified those killed as four women and three men but did not provide names.

Cline was the founder of St. Louis, Mo., coal miner Foresight Energy, a joint venture with Robert Murray’s Murray Energy Corp., and was a major Republican donor.

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Cline, who died a day shy of his 61st birthday, was born into coal. His grandfather dug up the rock with a pickax, and he himself started working the mines at 22. Ten years later, he founded Cline Group to extract coal from beneath the hollows and rolling hills of Appalachia. He created Foresight to expand into Illinois in 2006. At its peak, the company was valued at more than $2.6 billion.

“Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a fellow coal miner, said on Twitter.

Bahamian police did not provide a cause of the crash but said an investigation with civil aviation authorities was underway.

Bahamas Police Supt. Shanta Knowles said Friday that the search began off the islands of Big Grand Cay when police received a report from Florida that a group including Cline had failed to arrive as expected Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.

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The bodies have been taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified, Knowles said. The helicopter was still in the water, and based on preliminary information, she did not believe there had been a distress call before it went down.

Foresight and Cline Group didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment left late Thursday. Glasser said Cline’s team was in touch with Foresight Chief Executive Robert Moore. “Chris had total confidence in Rob Moore, and that remains,” he said.

Foresight’s stock has traded at a fraction of what it did when Cline took the company public in 2014, weighed down by collapsing coal prices, increased competition and waning demand. The company said in May that it was suspending dividends while also cutting earnings and shipment forecasts for the year. Its shares plunged the most in intraday trading in almost three years on the announcement.

Cline was no stranger to politics. In 2017 it was revealed he gave $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural committee. Two years earlier, he revealed himself as the donor behind a $1-million contribution to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. Federal records show he also spread thousands of dollars to conservative groups as well as committees representing prominent Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Raised in a West Virginia town of 200 residents, Cline became one of the richest coal barons in America. According to a 2010 Bloomberg Markets profile, which dubbed him the “New King Coal,” he owned a 164-foot yacht called Mine Games and a 34,400-square-foot oceanfront mansion in Florida. The same profile noted that he would cruise Illinois in an Italian-made AgustaWestland helicopter with his Australian shepherd.

“He was a young man,” Glasser said. “He was audacious. He was a great man, and he will be missed.”

Tragedy haunted Cline — his first wife died of breast cancer in 1987, and his best friend, Sidney Green, died in 2002 when the roof collapsed in Cline’s mine near Wharton, W.Va.

Cline said in 2010 that he was already thinking about when his sons Christopher and Alex, then 16 and 15, would be old enough to join his business. He said they would need college educations and to be toughened up for life underground. To help his children, including two daughters, appreciate their privileged lives, Cline said at the time that he sometimes made them fly commercial, introduced them to miners and showed them videos of when he started out.

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He said at the time that he hoped the films instilled a sense of what it took to rise from a life in a West Virginia backwater and become a billionaire.

The Associated Press and Bloomberg were used in compiling this report. </s> GRAND CAY ISLAND, Bahamas – A deadly helicopter crash killed seven Americans, including a well-known billionaire and his daughter.

The aircraft left from Grand Cay Island at about 2 a.m. on Thursday and was headed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when it happened.

Officials found the helicopter in 16 feet of water.

Bahamian police have not yet identified a cause for the crash, but they said they are investigating with civil aviation authorities now.

We know four women and three men were on board. They all died.

West Virginia coal billionaire and philanthropist Chris Cline, 60, and his daughter were among the victims.

“The Register-Herald” newspaper out of Beckley, West Virginia described him as a “Billionaire mining entrepeneur, coal tycoon and benefactor to southern West Virginia.”

Cline’s friends and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said Cline built an empire and gave to others every chance he got, including a lot of money to charities and millions of dollars to local universities.

He started The Cline Family Foundation to support educational instituations.

Forbes said he was worth 1. 8 billion dollars at the time of his death. </s> The West Virginia billionaire killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of the Bahamas died alongside one of his daughters and some of her pals, friends said.

Chris Cline, a coal tycoon who once dated Tiger Wood’s ex-wife Elin Nordegren, was killed Thursday, a day before his 61st birthday, when the chopper crashed around 2 a.m. shortly after taking off from Grand Cay in the Bahamas, The Register-Herald reported.

The mining entrepreneur’s daughter, Kameron, was among the seven victims on the submerged aircraft, which was discovered overturned two miles off his private island, news station KFSN reported.

Two young adults, his pal, the pilot and a helicopter mechanic were also reportedly aboard the ill-fated flight.

“Prayers for Family and friends of my great friend Chris Cline and his daughter Kameron and her dear friends who we loss (sic) today in a helicopter crash,” West Virginia state Sen. Sue Cline wrote on Twitter. “Chris was [an] exceptional human being and we all loved him so much. Such a loss for all 7 aboard today. Our hearts are broken.”

The helicopter was headed to Fort Lauderdale due to the possible illness of someone on board — but the pilot of the helicopter “made no request or permission to go” before the flight, according to the Register-Herald.

Bahamian officials said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

“They’re attempting … to first of all go to the helicopter and retrieve any souls that are onboard and start the investigation,” Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar told The Nassau Guardian.

Cline was the founder of coal mining firm Foresight Energy, and was estimated to be worth $1.8 billion at the time of his death, according to Forbes.

He lost his first wife to cancer and his second marriage ended in divorce, according to the Register-Herald. In addition to Kameron, he was the father to three other children, Candice, Alex and Christopher.

Cline started dating Tiger Woods’ ex, Elin Nordegren, in 2013 following her highly-publicized divorce. Page Six last spotted the on-again, off-again couple together in 2016. </s> NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — The Latest on a helicopter crash that killed seven people in the Bahamas (all times local):

Aviation safety investigators in the Bahamas are working to determine the cause of a helicopter crash that killed seven Americans.

None of the bodies recovered from the downed helicopter have been identified, but police Supt. Shanta Knowles told The Associated Press on Friday that the missing-aircraft report from Florida said billionaire Chris Cline was on board. She said the group of Americans from Big Grand Cay failed to arrive as expected in Fort Lauderdale. Cline was a billionaire coal tycoon and has been major donor to Republican politicians.

Jaime Nixon is an aviation safety analyst for the Air Accident Investigation Department of the Bahamas . She said a specialized ship was coming from Florida with equipment to pull the helicopter from the water.

The Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority told the Federal Aviation Administration that the Augusta AW139 helicopter was located in the water at about 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Police in the Bahamas say the bodies of seven Americans in a downed helicopter have been taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified.

Police superintendent Shanta Knowles said they responded to a missing aircraft report from Florida, and were told that billionaire Chris Cline and a group of Americans from Big Grand Cay failed to arrive as expected in Fort Lauderdale. Cline, a billionaire coal tycoon, has been major donor to Republican politicians.

Knowles said information was preliminary and subject to change, but she did not believe there had been a distress call from the aircraft.

She said she believed that the helicopter was still in the water.

Police in the Bahamas say a helicopter flying from Big Grand Cay island to Fort Lauderdale has crashed, killing seven Americans on board.

A statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the cause of Thursday's crash two miles off Grand Cay was under investigation.

It did not provide the names of the people killed but identified them as four women and three men.

It said police and civil aviation authorities were probing the crash.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> West Virginia Coal-mining billionaire Chris Cline was killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of the Bahamas one day before his 61st birthday on July 4, friends and colleagues confirmed.

According to Evan Jenkins, Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the crash also claimed the lives of his daughter and five others, including the pilot of the helicopter. In a Facebook post commemorating the coal executive and philanthropist, Jenkins described Cline as “selfless.”

“Chris loved West Virginia,” Jenkins wrote.” His selfless and generous support for programs and projects throughout the state improved the lives of countless West Virginians. His life’s story was one of hard work, love of family and caring support for others. My deepest condolences go out to his family.”

According to Forbes, at the time of his death Cline’s net worth was $1.8 billion. Forbes reports that Cline got his start working in coal mines at age 15 and his fortune grew when he “bet big” on high-sulfur coal reserves in Illinois. Cline took his coal mining firm Foresight Energy public in 2014 and sold controlling stake in 2015 for $1.4 billion cash, Forbes says.

According to the Associated Press, the Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed the helicopter was flying from Big Grand Cay island to Fort Lauderdale. AP reports that authorities have not identified the deceased, but confirmed four women and three men died in the crash.

While police have not named Cline as a victim, several people, including Cline’s attorney, Brian Glassier, confirmed his death on social media.

On Twitter, Glassier remembered his client as a “courageous” man, who despite his large fortune, never lost touch.

“Our client Chris Cline died today,” Glassier tweeted. “A billionaire, he never lost touch with the days he lived in a double wide and used a blow dryer to thaw his winter pipes. He was the most courageous client we ever had the privilege to represent. We will not see his like again. RIP Chris Cline.”

“Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend,” Justice tweeted. “Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire – Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man.” Governor Jim Justice
Seven Americans, including coal billionaire Chris Cline, are found dead in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas.