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Just five minutes before a deadly plane crash in Whitesville, Kentucky, the pilot contacted the air traffic controller for help getting out of a severe thunderstorm, stating the plane was "getting blown around like crazy" and they were hitting "pretty extreme turbulence," according to the NTSB preliminary report.
On Sept. 27 a flight instructor and student pilot departed from Bowling Green-Woodhurst Airport (BWG) in a Piper Warrior II PA-28-161 on the return portion of a night cross-country flight on their first time flying together. The plane climbed to 4,500 feet msl and continued northwesterly toward the Owensboro/Daviess County Regional Airport (OWB) on a visual flight rules flight plan. The NTSB noted that the flight instructor made a social media post about 34 minutes before the crash with an annotated image from a mobile-device-based aviation navigation tool. The image showed the planned flight route and weather radar imagery, annotated with a circle around the flight track and nearby weather radar returns.
The pilot contacted the controller and was advised of heavy to extreme precipitation at the plane's nine o'clock position. The ADS-B data showed that the plane then continued on its northwesterly course and two minutes later the flight instructor requested an instrument flight rules clearance. The clearance was issued and an easterly vector was provided to help the pilots get out of the weather. The flight instructor told the controller the plane was "getting blown around like crazy" and the flight track showed the plane turn to the northwest followed by a right circling turn. The controller restated the heading of 090 degrees and the flight instructor responded, stating they were in "pretty extreme turbulence."
The flight track showed the plane in a continuing right descending turn and there were no further communications with the pilot or flight instructor. The final ADS-B position, five minutes after the initial communication with the controller, showed the plane at an altitude of 2,200 feet and about 1,000 feet northwest of the wreckage field. The wreckage debris field covered 25 acres in a hilly and densely wooded area. All major components of the plane except the left portion of the stabilator were found within the debris field. The fuselage was separated aft of the rear seat and the forward fuselage with the cockpit, engine and right wing were found in the most westerly portion of the field. The left wing with the aileron attached was separated from the fuselage and located about 800 feet east of the fuselage. All of the recovered wreckage was taken to a salvage facility for further examination.
The left wing interior ribs showed signatures consistent with the aileron bellcrank having been pulled from its mount and drawn through the wing to the inboard end. The aileron bellcrank was broken and the balance cable arm remained attached. The balance cable was continuous to the right wing and the right wing aileron cables remained attached to the bellcrank and the bellcrank remained attached to the wing. The remainder of the bellcrank was not located. Based on the preliminary investigation, no anomalies or malfunctions were found that would have precluded normal operation.
The Kentucky State Police identified the flight instructor as 22-year-old Timothy A. McKellar Jr. of Custer, Kentucky and the student pilot as 18-year-old Connor W. Quisenberry of Beaver Dam, Kentucky. The plane belonged to Eagle Flight Academy located in Owensboro, Kentucky and the academy shared its condolences on its Facebook page. The Ohio County Sheriff's Office released a statement on Facebook that they received an alert from the Evansville Airport Control Tower of a possible crash in Whitesville and emergency services responded. The KSP Post 16 said it was notified about the crash just before 11 p.m. on Sept. 27. Emergency crews searched through the night and the morning of Sept. 28 before finding the wreckage.
"This was a big storm that came through here," Daviess Co. Sheriff Brad Youngman said to 14 News. "It was fast-moving, came out of nowhere, caught a lot of people by surprise."
"The wind was the most notable feature of those storms," Trooper King said to 14 News. "As it [the plane] crashed into the wood line, it was starting to tear apart, and that debris field ranged for close to half a mile."
The NTSB is investigating the crash and its final report will be released in about one year.