BOONVILLE, Ind. — A small plane flying low at the end of the runway at Boonville Airport hit a car on a road beside the field on Oct. 18, the National Transportation Safety Board says. The car’s front-seat passenger died. The pilot and the driver were not hurt.
The passenger was Leon Hatchett, 88, a longtime pastor in Warrick County. He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and later died.
The crash tore the left main landing gear off the 1946 Piper J-3 Cub. Still, the plane kept flying. The pilot circled the airport for about two hours, then landed safely.
What the NTSB says about the Boonville Airport plane that hit a car
The NTSB’s preliminary report says the crash happened about 3 p.m. It lists a personal flight under Part 91 rules.
The pilot told investigators he took off from runway 9. Shortly after, he came back for a low pass over runway 27. The turf runway is 2,300 feet long and 100 feet wide.
He flew just above the ground to the west end of the runway. There, he climbed and did what the report calls an “impossible turn.” Pilots use that term for a low turn back toward the runway.
He then made more turns and lined up on runway 27 again. He flew low with little power until about two-thirds of the way down the runway. Then he added full throttle and stayed low as he picked up speed.
At the end of the runway, the plane hit a car heading north on South Baker Road. The road runs along the airport’s west edge.
The pilot said he didn’t see the car until it was in front of him. He said tall weeds, tree shadows on the road and the car’s dark color hid it. He put the plane’s speed at about 70 mph.
He also reported “no preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.”
First reports pointed to a falling part
Early accounts on the day told a different story. Warrick County Sheriff Michael Wilder described a possible mechanical failure.
“Around three-oh-five this afternoon, our dispatch received a call of a potential aircraft having some type of mechanical failure, striking a vehicle,” Wilder told 14 News. “The aircraft was able to still lift off and go into flight,” he said.
Boonville Fire Department Chief Steven Byers said the plane had broken landing gear. But he said it was not clear what struck the car. “We don’t know if it clipped the vehicle or came off of the plane and hit the vehicle,” Byers said.
WNIN reported that the plane landed just after 5 p.m. The station said a piece of equipment fell off a crop-dusting plane in the air and hit the car. A later WNIN report said it was a wheel.
Later accounts do not support that early picture. On Oct. 22, Boonville police said the plane was taking off westbound when it hit a car on Baker Road, causing its landing gear to come off. The Federal Aviation Administration said in an early notice that the plane hit a vehicle at the end of the runway during a go-around.
A pastor remembered, and what comes next
Hatchett served at Wayside Chapel Church. Church leaders told 14 News he gave back to the community for more than 40 years. They said they are heartbroken.
The NTSB’s report is preliminary. It gives early facts, not a cause, and it rests largely on the pilot’s own account. The NTSB says it generally tries to finish an investigation within 12 to 24 months.
The first reports fit a familiar hazard: a part falling from a plane onto the road below. A recent case: metal debris, possibly from an aircraft, found at an Illinois preschool.
The NTSB account points to something else. Here, the gear came off in the strike itself. Gear or debris left on a runway or road after a strike is its own hazard, as when a Cessna Skycatcher lost its nose gear landing at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and left debris on the runway.
The crash also shows how close a road at a runway’s end can sit to a low-flying plane.
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Sources
- National Transportation Safety Board — “Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report, CEN27LA021” (Oct. 2026)
- 14 News (WFIE) — “NTSB report released in deadly Boonville plane crash” (Nov. 2, 2026)
- 14 News (WFIE) — “Coroner identifies driver killed after plane collides with vehicle near Boonville” (Oct. 22, 2026)
- 14 News (WFIE) — “Warrick County church leaders heartbroken after pastor dies in plane-vehicle crash” (Oct. 23, 2026)
- 14 News (WFIE) — “WCSO: Part of plane hits vehicle during mechanical failure, seriously injuring driver” (Oct. 18, 2026)
- WNIN — “Man Dies After Wheel Falls From Plane” (Oct. 23, 2026)
- WNIN — “Small Plane Lands after Dropping Equipment” (Oct. 19, 2026)
