NTSB: Crashed plane was on test flight

DE QUEEN, Ark.—The Cessna 310 airplane that crashed Aug. 4 in Sevier County, killing one man and injuring another, was on a maintenance test flight, according to an aviation accident preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The cause of the crash has not been determined yet, said Keith Holloway, a spokesman for NTSB. It could be between 12 and 18 months before the final NTSB report on the crash is available, Holloway said.

The fatal crash happened about 4:45 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4 in a pasture on Chapel Hill Road near De Queen, Arkansas, and less than a mile south of the J. Lynn Helms Sevier County airport.

John Tackett, 67, was killed on impact. Joe Greer, 77, of Horatio, Arkansas, was sent to a Little Rock hospital and is expected to recover from his injuries.

The right wing of the white and maroon two-engine Cessna hit the ground first, followed by the fuselage, according to the report. A small debris field followed for about 145 feet the report stated.

Tackett was in the airplane’s right seat and Greer was in the left seat, according to the report. They are both listed on the report as the plane’s crew. The flight originated from the J. Lynn Helms Sevier County Airport at De Queen.

The wreckage consisted of the fuselage, both wings, both engines, the right propeller, empennage and tail, according to the report. A post-impact fire burned a portion of the field and some of the airplane’s fuel system lines.

The plane was registered to

Highway 71 Trucking LLC, a company owned by Tackett.

The airplane was retained for further examination, according to the report.

The Arkansas State Police and the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash along with the De Queen Fire Department.

Firefighters immediately began trying to put the fire out and then worked on removing Greer from the plane, according to an Arkansas State Police incident report.

The 911 call about the crash was made by the landowners.

The caller told dispatchers she and her husband heard the crash and found the plane in their field, according to the ASP report.

Another witness told police he had noticed the plane flying low over the trees and that it was making a turn toward the airport, according to the report.