Businessman with Vicksburg ties dies in plane crash in Arkansas

Published 11:12 am Thursday, November 8, 2012

An Oxford businessman with ties to Vicksburg died Wednesday from injuries he received in a plane crash in Conway, Ark., officials and friends said.

Robert Julian Allen, 65, died Wednesday night at the University of Arkansas Medical Center in Little Rock, Ark., a hospital spokesman said.

Brother Blackburn of Vicksburg, whose son, David, married Allen’s daughter, Karen, said Allen had done business in Vicksburg. He said Allen and David Blackburn were partners in a business development in Oxford.

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“He was a good businessman and a family man,” Brother Blackburn said, adding that Allen had flown by himself in the company’s plane to Conway to check on a project the company was building.

According to the Conway Log Cabin Democrat newspaper, the crash occurred just before noon at the Conway Municipal Airport.

Reports indicated the plane developed engine trouble after takeoff from the airport and the crash occurred as he attempted to land again.