WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — After a small plane crashed in the southern portion of Williamson County earlier this month, killing a doctor and his two children, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shared new details about the incident.
The small plane went down near Bending Chestnut Road in Leipers Fork, which is south of Interstate 840 near Natchez Trace Parkway, around noon on May 15.
According to the NTSB's preliminary report, the pilot of a single-engine Beech V35 departed from Louisiana Regional Airport (REG) in Gonzales, Louisiana, on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan at approximately 8:50 a.m. and was heading to Bowman Field Airport (LOU) in Louisville, Kentucky, to pick up an extra passenger before returning to REG. The planned flight was about 550 nautical miles.
Officials said Preliminary Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed that about 15 minutes into the flight, the pilot climbed the airplane to 9,000 feet mean sea level (msl) and leveled off.
"The airplane was on a track of about 027° at 9,000 ft msl, and in the vicinity of the Mississippi border, the pilot descended to 7,000 ft msl where he remained until approaching the Nashville International Airport (BNA), Nashville, Tennessee airspace," the report stated. "The pilot was in communication with the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) prior to entering the BNA approach controller’s airspace."
Based on preliminary audio communications information provided by the FAA, the pilot requested a deviation from the ARTCC controller, which was passed along to the BNA approach controller prior to the communications transfer from ARTCC to BNA approach, the NTSB explained. Even though the deviation was approved, the reason for the deviation was not mentioned by the pilot nor was an inquiry made by the controller. In addition, the pilot requested a higher altitude, which was coordinated with the ARTCC controller and approved.
According to officials, during the climb to 9,000 feet msl, the pilot was instructed to fly a heading of 360° and to expect “On course in about fifteen miles.” Then, the pilot was cleared direct to the EWO (New Hope, Kentucky) VORTAC, the pilot acknowledged clearance, the plane climbed to 9,500 feet msl, and the pilot was instructed to maintain 9,000 feet msl. The controller asked the pilot again to descend to 9,000 feet msl and provided the current altimeter setting, which was acknowledged by the pilot, but that was the last transmission received from the flight.
The NTSB said preliminary weather data showed that while established on the 360° track, the airplane entered an area with depicted moderate to heavy precipitation:
"The airplane momentarily descended to 8,900 feet, and then made a right turn to the northeast for several miles before initiating a right descending turn to a track of 213°. The groundspeed increased from 180 kts to 214 kts and the vertical speed decreased to a 4,000 fpm descent," the report explained. "The controller made several attempts to contact the pilot, which went unanswered and radar contact was lost shortly thereafter. ADS-B data for the final moments of the flight showed that as the airplane entered a 5,000 fpm rate of descent, the groundspeed rapidly decreased to 43 kts and the vertical speed then reached a descent rate of more than 15,000 fpm."
Officials said several witnesses described hearing the airplane as it descended, as well as a loud "pop." In addition, one witness recorded a video showing pieces of the plane descending through the overcast layer of clouds above.
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The NTSB’s report offered a full account of the damage sustained by the various parts of the plane, noting that the information is preliminary and subject to change:
The wreckage was scattered along a fan like pattern that was oriented on a 262° magnetic heading and spread over a radius of more than ½-mile. The first pieces of wreckage recovered at the beginning of the path consisted of the separated elevator-rudders (ruddervators) that were found at an elevation of 909 ft. Both wings separated from the fuselage and were found about 2,000 ft further west, followed by the main fuselage fragments, seats, and instrument panel. The engine and propeller assembly were the final pieces discovered at the end of the wreckage path where it impacted a lake and was submerged in 8 ft of water. About 90% of the airplane was recovered.
The left wing separated from the fuselage at the root and was largely intact. Fuel with the blue color and smell of aviation gasoline spilled out from the main fuel tank at the wing root. The left wingtip fuel tank was intact and contained no fuel. The top, forward wing mounting bolt fractured and pulled through the wing spar attach fitting. The aft two mounting bolts pulled through both wing spar attach fittings. The left wing main spar displayed signatures consistent with bending overload separation in the downward (negative) direction.
The right wing was also from the fuselage. The right wingtip fuel tank separated from the wing and was split open. The wing forward spar attach point was intact and remained connected to the center section that was separated from the fuselage. The right wing rear spar was separated at the attach point. The rear center section was separated from the fuselage. The right rear upper attach bolt was intact and retained in the intact center section bathtub fitting. The right rear upper wing fitting was fractured and pulled from the wing structure. The rear lower attach bolt was intact and retained in the rear lower wing fitting. The right wing contained a weather radar pod and hardware that was separated during the impact. The radar’s cockpit display was not installed and the system’s the circuit breakers were in a tripped/deactivated position.
The stabilator spars exhibited symmetrical deformation where the spars were bent aft and twisted leading edge down. The fracture surfaces had slant angles. The right stabilizer was separated and had more than half of the right ruddervator attached. The ruddervator trailing edge was separated and the skins were splayed open. Only a portion of the left inboard ruddervator was recovered. The deformation of the stabilizer spars on both sides exhibited features consistent with downward failure.
All three propeller blades remained attached to the hub and engine at the propeller flange. Two of the blades exhibited chordwise scraping and gouges on the upper camber of the blades and were missing 3 inches of their tips. The additional blade was bent forward mid span about 50°. The top and left side of the engine was severely impact damaged with all of the cylinders exhibiting fin damage, and there was a 12-inch by 3-inch impact hole in the crown of the engine case. The alternator, starter and both magnetos were separated by impact and were not recovered. The rocker covers for cylinder nos. 2, 4, 5, and 6 were missing due to impact damage. Cylinder nos. 1, 3, 5, had impact damage to their sparkplugs, making them unable to be removed. Cylinder nos. 2, 4, 6, were successfully examined with a borescope and exhibited normal wear and operational signatures. The interiors of cylinder nos. 1, 3, 5, were unable to be examined due to mud/silt from immersion.
According to officials, the pilot had bought the plane in December 2023. In addition, his pilot log revealed he had a total of 366 hours of flight experience and 14 hours in the same make and model of airplane that was involved in the crash.
News 2's sister station in Baton Rouge, WGMB, identified the pilot killed in the crash as Dr. Lucius Doucet. Meanwhile, Louisiana State University identified the two passengers who died as the pilot's children, Giselle and Jean-Luc Doucet, who were set to graduate on May 17.
No additional details have been released about what exactly caused the crash. If you want to read the full report from the NTSB, follow this link.