20240515010919A

Late in the day, with VFR weather conditions and after fueling the aircraft with aproximately 11.5 gallons of 100LL avgas, the solo student pilot was practicing pre-private pilot checkride preparation maneuvers, including a departure (takeoff at 1948 CST) followed by a touch-and-go, both at the Cleburne Regional Airport, and then practicing additional airwork maneuvers in the local flying area to the northwest of this airport of departure. After completing multiple turns, slow flight, clmbs, decents and imminent stalls for about 45 minutes, the adsb data indicates he was aparently returning to the airport of departure shortly before darkness, heading ese. At a point about 6 NM to the wnw of the airport, the available adsb data indicates that the aircraft slowed and began a 400 to 500 ft/min climb to about 1400 ft AGL, with groundspeed slowing to minimal (13 KTS), then abruptly turning tightly left with altitude suddenly decreasing at an extremely rapid rate (6,000 to 10,000 ft/min) in an extremely tight left rotation. The final adsb datapoint recorded at 2039:44 CDT indicated the aircraft at 75 ft AGL decending at 7,500 ft/min with minimal ground track. The published ending of civil twilight for this location and date was 2048 CDT. The partially burnt aircraft wreckage was found in an open grassy field generally pointing to the southeast, in a nearly flat attitude with the engine and empenage shifted noticeably to the right of centerline of the wing center section, with one propeller blade imbedded deep in the earth and the other visible and completely undamaged. The wreckage was found complete except for the cabin / cockpit / instrument pannel and engine accessories areas which had been mostly consumed by post impact fire except for their steel components. There were no ground scars except for immediately under the wreckage, indicating a nearly vertical impact. All flight and engine controls were present and connected to their cockpit controls. The flaps were found in the full down position. The prop blade that had imbedded in the earth showed leading edge damages and chordwise gouges. Two witnesses who were located aproximately 1/4 mile to the north of the accident site in their vehicle stated that the aircraft had caught their attention due to its lowness and lights being visible. They stated that it appeared to be hovering, then suddenly dropped and turned sharply left, rotating 6 to 8 times in a nearly vertical spiraling rapid decent before dropping behind the low treeline, where smoke and fire could be seen immediately rising above the location. They immediately contacted 911 and reported the accident.

All aircraft inspections and maintenance were determined to be current and the student pilot was properly endorsed and qualified to conduct this solo flight. Available rental records indicated he last flew this C-150 on January 21, 2024 and his most recent flight was may 6, 2024 in a C-172 .