What happened
On March 30, 2025, at approximately 10:34 EDT, a Cirrus SR2 2 bearing registration N319TM was involved in an accident near Franklin Township, New Jersey. The aircraft, operated by Elite Flight Experience, was performing a private flight under Part 91 regulations. The pilot had filed an instrument flight rules flight plan intended for Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina.
Data from Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) shows the aircraft departed runway 10 at Princeton Airport (39N) at approximately 10:30. After climbing to 1,700 feet MSL, the aircraft flew northeast and then entered a left circuit. The final ADS-B target was recorded at 10:34:40 at an altitude of 475 feet near the accident site.
Air traffic control records indicate that at 10:32:45, a controller contacted the aircraft approximately 4 miles northeast of Princeton Airport to request an identification. While the pilot acknowledged the instruction, subsequent communications went unanswered. At 10:33:49, the controller instructed the pilot to climb to 3,000 feet and turn right to a heading of 180°, but the pilot did not respond. At 10:34:19, the controller advised the pilot that the aircraft was descending and required a climb, but again received no reply. A final radio check attempt at 10:34:24 also went unacknowledged.
The aircraft descended approximately 50 degrees nose-down and came to rest in a wooded area on a magnetic heading of 150°. The impact created a debris path of approximately 30 feet through severed trees leading to the main wreckage.
The investigation
Investigators located all four corners of the aircraft at the site. The wreckage showed significant damage, including a crushed cockpit and a crushed empennage located atop the main wreckage. The left wing was fragmented, and the right wing was also fragmented, with the right aileron having separated from the aircraft. The elevator trim motor was found to have fractured, though the specific trim setting could not be determined.
The aircraft, manufactured in 2024, was powered by a Continental IO-550-N engine. Data retrieved from the remote data module (RDM) indicated the aircraft had a total of 76.6 hours of operation. The pilot's most recent FAA medical application from June 2023 listed 296 total flight hours, and the pilot had earned an instrument rating on March 22, 2024.