NTSB determines flight instructor to be cause of fatal 2023 Daviess County crash

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the 2023 Whitesville plane crash that killed a student pilot and flight instructor was caused by the flight instructor’s decision to continue flight into thunderstorms.

On Sept. 27, 2023, 22-year-old flight instructor Timothy McKellar Jr. and 18-year-old student pilot Connor Quisenberry were both killed during a return flight to Owensboro from Bowling Green as part of Quisenberry’s night flight training.

Investigators say most of the plane’s wreckage was found in a debris field, but other parts, including a wing, were located 800 feet away from the main site. The NTSB report says there was no indication that the plane had any mechanical failure.

According to the NTSB’s report, an image posted by McKellar shortly before the accident took place showed outdated weather radar information. Because of this, officials with the NTSB believe McKellar knew about the severe weather along the planned route of flight, but not about how old the information was.

The report from the NTSB advises that pilots should use in-cockpit Next Generation Radar data to know where weather systems were, not where the systems are currently. It also advises that all appropriate sources of weather information should be used to make in-flight decisions.

The crash made headlines after social media posts made by McKellar during the flight went viral, including posts where he made insulting remarks towards Quisenberry. One of the last posts made by McKellar was of the radar image the NTSB used in their report, showing severe weather in the area of the flight path.