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 small Piper J3C-65 airplane crashed on June 24 near a private airstrip in Dunlap, Tennessee, killing the 79-year-old owner/pilot and seriously injuring a 55-year-old passenger.
The injured passenger, who was undergoing flight training, reported no memory of the flight or the accident itself.
A preliminary NTSB report indicated damage to the aircraft's left wing consistent with impact with trees, but found no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the engine.

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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.