Accident Overview
On October 31, 2024, about 1837 central daylight time, a Cessna 150F airplane, registration N8110S, was destroyed when it struck a tree and was subsequently consumed by a postimpact fire near Wilder, Tennessee. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Flight and Wreckage
The airplane departed Cross Memorial Airport – Whitson Field (CSV), Crossville, Tennessee, about 1817 from runway 26. Sunset had occurred at 1744, with civil twilight ending at 1811. Radar data from Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) showed the aircraft flying northeast, then north, and then northwest. About one minute before the accident, it turned west. The last ADS-B point, recorded about 1837, showed the aircraft at an altitude of approximately 200 feet above ground level, about 0.3 miles east of the accident site. There was no communication with air traffic control, and no distress calls were received.
The initial impact was with a 100-foot-tall hardwood tree. The wreckage path extended on a magnetic heading of 146°. The outboard half of the left wing remained lodged in the tree. The empennage, aft fuselage, and main landing gear separated upon impact. The main wreckage—including the right wing, cockpit, engine, and propeller—came to rest inverted at the base of another tree and was destroyed by fire. The debris field measured about 250 feet in length.
Weather Conditions
The accident site was located along the eastern edge of an eastward-moving precipitation band. A Convective SIGMET was valid for the area at the time of the accident. There was no documented evidence that the pilot obtained a weather briefing from any source that logs contact with pilots.
Pilot Background
The pilot, who held a student pilot certificate, had purchased the airplane approximately one month before the accident. On the day of the accident, he submitted an insurance application reporting 65 total hours of flight experience, including 30 hours in the accident airplane make and model.