JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its aviation accident preliminary report surrounding the airplane crash that claimed the life of Jimmy Cole. Cole died when his plane crashed at 12:50pm on Monday, August 29, at the Tommy C. Stiner Airfield. Here is a related story from WLAF.

According to a friend of the pilot, Jimmy Cole, Cole purchased the airplane the day prior to the accident. She said this was Cole’s first flight in 20 years, and he just wanted to “take it up for a flight.” She recalled that the airplane took off from the runway “real early.” After takeoff, the airplane made a “sharp” turn to the left and descended below the tree line.

This is the report from the NTSB.

On August 29, 2022, about 1250 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca 7AC airplane, N1478E, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Jacksboro, Tennessee. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to a friend of the pilot, he purchased the airplane the day prior to the accident. She said this was the pilot’s first flight in 20 years, and he just wanted to “take it up for a flight.” She recalled that the airplane took off from the runway “real early.” After takeoff, the airplane made a “sharp” turn to the left and descended below the tree line. She then contacted the local authorities and waited for them to arrive.

The airplane came to rest nose down in a field adjacent to the airport runway. It was orientated on a magnetic heading of 23°. All primary flight control surfaces remained attached to the airplane. Flight control continuity was established to all primary flight control surfaces. The nose of the airplane was crushed aft to the cockpit. The engine and avionics instruments were destroyed by impact. Examination of the fuselage revealed the wings remained attached to the
fuselage and were impact damaged. Both wings displayed accordion crush damage along their leading edges. The empennage was bent over the fuselage and remained partially attached. The horizontal and vertical control surfaces remained attached to the empennage.

The wreckage was recovered and retained for further examination. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 09/20/2022-6AM)

2 Replies to “NTSB releases preliminary report from Jimmy Cole’s fatal plane crash”

  1. I heard the airplane before the crash. As he passed near our home I could hear the noise and feel the vibration shaking us really badly. I’m not an expert by any means, but I have been in a boat when a propeller broke. I didn’t even realize that it was an airplane causing the vibrations that I felt, but I would suggest looking for all of the pieces of the propeller. I don’t think anything other than a broken propeller could have caused that much vibration and noise.

  2. The friend said the plane took off “real early.” Mr Welch above says there was a lot of vibration. Betcha NTSB is looking at a piloting error stall as a possibility. Stalling out, going full throttle, flaps still full, no altitude for a nose down recovery, prop chopping air, and getting no pull because there’s no lift… Could be… based on those two statements, but there are a lot of unknowns yet.

    And… we let people stay licensed without any flight time for 20 years????? I didn’t know that.

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