A Putnam County Primary School teacher and her husband lost their lives in a plane crash this past weekend.
Janet and James Hardee were killed when their plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Covington Municipal Airport, according to Newton County Coroner Kim Griggs and the Covington Police Department.
“The Putnam County Charter School System community is mourning the loss of Mrs. Hardee,” a post on the school system’s social media reveals. “There are no words that can ease the sorrow and sadness we feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
Putnam County School Superintendent Derick Austin said this was the 59-year-old Hardee’s first year teaching in Putnam County. She taught first grade at Putnam County Primary School, where the school system provided extra counselors to support staff, students, and their families.
“Janet Hardee had a notable teaching career, with over 15 years of experience in education,” Austin said.
Hardee taught at Shoal Creek Elementary in Conyers before teaching in Putnam County. According to Austin, she also previously worked for the Division of Family and Children Services.
“I can tell you she was such a wonderful, compassionate, loving, kind educator,” Angela Walls commented on PCCSS’s announcement on social media.
Walls said Hardee taught her grandson, and every time Walls talked with Hardee during events at the school, “she was always cheerful and positive with any feedback concerning my grandson.”
“She spoke of her beautiful children and family,” Walls said. “She loved teaching, she loved PCPS, she loved her students. … Her students adored and loved her so very much. This is going to be such a huge adjustment for them. Thank you, Putnam Primary for blessing our lives with Mrs. Hardee. She was such a joy and wonderful person.”
Walls said the primary school’s administrators called the parents of the students to let them know the news before making their public announcement.
According to a press release by the Covington Police Department and the FAA, the couple left the Covington airport at approximately 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in their single-engine Rockwell Commander aircraft.
The Hardees were the only two people on board the plane.
According to the press release, the police department received a notification about 20 minutes later from the FAA that “there was no further communication from the aircraft after takeoff. "
Officers located the aircraft in the woods just north of the runway.
Griggs pronounced James and Janet Hardee dead at the scene but declined to provide a description of the crash scene.
“I have nothing to release regarding the preliminary cause of death at this time,” she told The Eatonton Messenger.
She also declined to say if an autopsy would be done. The coroner said the Hardees had “several properties in their names, but I don’t think the Newton County property was their main one.”
According to a report on the FAA website, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is in charge of investigating the cause of the crash.