The man piloting the single-engine airplane that crashed June 24 in Dunlap was giving his passenger instructional training despite lacking certification to do so.
The pilot and owner of the Piper Cub J3, Wendall Rick Trimble, 79, was killed in the crash, and his passenger, Ashish Sircar, 55, was seriously injured, according to Dunlap police and a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators said Sircar couldn’t remember how the crash happened but told officials the purpose of the flight was “to continue instructional training that he had started a couple of days prior to the accident,” the preliminary report said.
Sircar, of Jacksonville, Florida, could remember that he and Trimble were at a “nearby airstrip about 7 miles north of the accident location,” the report said. “He does not recall departing that airfield, the accident flight or the accident events.”
Sircar has been released from the hospital and is recovering from his injuries, Dunlap Police Chief Randy Phillips said via text.