NTSB Releases Preliminary Report on Fatal Tennessee Crash

Aircraft’s owner was killed and a passenger seriously injured.

Zach Vasile

Friday, July 04, 2025 at 09:00 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

NTSB logo and image [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

A preliminary NTSB report details a June 24 small plane crash in Dunlap, Tennessee, which killed owner Wendall Trimble and seriously injured passenger Ashish Sircar.
The injured passenger, who was undergoing flight training, reported no memory of the flight or the accident itself.
Investigators found damage to the aircraft's left wing consistent with tree impact, but no mechanical engine failures that would have prevented normal operation.

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A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is shedding light on a small airplane crash in Tennessee in June that killed one person and badly injured another.

The aircraft, a Piper J3C-65, crashed near a private airstrip in Dunlap on the afternoon of June 24. According to WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, local police identified the occupants as owner Wendall Trimble, 79, of Dunlap, and Ashish Sircar, 55, of Florida. Trimble was killed while Sircar suffered serious injuries.