Accident Details
On June 8, 2025, at about 1220 central daylight time, a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, registration N166DH, was involved in an accident near Tullahoma, Tennessee. The flight was conducted as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 skydiving flight. The commercial pilot and five passengers were seriously injured, while 15 passengers were not injured.
Takeoff and Initial Climb
The pilot was attempting to take off from runway 24 at Tullahoma Regional Airport (THA). This was his fourth flight in the airplane that day. The pilot stated that the takeoff was normal and he raised the flaps once the airplane was clear of obstacles.
Loss of Engine Power
When the airplane was about 500 ft above ground level, the pilot noticed asymmetrical thrust on the engines while syncing the propellers. He reported, “In the following seconds, I continued trying to sync the props and was getting unusual feedback in the controls. I didn’t notice any loss of power in the gauges, but something felt a miss.” The pilot lowered the nose of the airplane and observed the altitude level off and airspeed decrease.
Pilot Actions
The pilot determined that the left engine had lost power. He initiated engine-out procedures and turned left, back to the airport, to attempt a landing on runway 36. The pilot could not recall whether he secured the left engine; however, he did remember adding flaps as per the engine-out procedures. The pilot said he tried to maintain airspeed above the single-engine minimum control speed (Vmc), but the airplane continued to descend.
Emergency Landing
Unable to make it back to the airport, the pilot chose to land in a field. There were two trees in the field that he could not avoid, and the airplane impacted the trees. The airplane came to rest upright, but the left wing, left engine, and the tail section separated from the airframe, resulting in substantial damage. The right wing and engine remained secured to the airframe. There was no postimpact fire.
Post-Accident Examination
The airplane wreckage was recovered and taken to a secure facility for further examination.