NTSB releases preliminary report on May 15 Williamson County plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board used eyewitness testimony and video as part of its investigation into the May 15 fatal airplane crash in Franklin.

As previously reported, the pilot, Baton Rouge plastic surgeon Lucuis “Tre” Doucet and two of his three adult children, Giselle and Jean Luc, were killed in the crash.

According to the NTSB's preliminary report, Doucet purchased the Beechcraft V35TC Bonanza in December 2023 and had 366 total hours of flight experience, only 14 of which were in the airplane involved in the accident.

The plane was traveling from Baton Rouge, La., to Louisville, Ky., when at approximately 12:02 p.m., it broke apart in the air before crashing near Bending Chestnut Road in the Leipers Fork area less than a mile from Natchez Trace Parkway. 

The plane was in contact with air traffic controllers in Memphis and Nashville, and, before the crash, it descended in altitude and increased its speed above the safe speeds the aircraft could handle.

“The controller made several attempts to contact the pilot, which went unanswered and radar contact was lost shortly thereafter,” the report reads in part. “ADS-B data for the final moments of the flight showed that as the airplane entered a 5,000 fpm [feet-per-minute] rate of descent, the groundspeed rapidly decreased to 43 knots and the vertical speed then reached a descent rate of more than 15,000 fpm.”

Witnesses interviewed by investigators reported hearing a loud “pop,” and one witness “recorded a video that depicted pieces of the airplane descending through the overcast layer of clouds above.”

The wreckage was scattered “along a fan-like pattern” with a more than half-mile radius.

Emergency crews recovered about 90 percent of the plane including separated elevator rudders and wings, the main fuselage fragments, seats, instrument panel, engine, and propeller assembly, some of which were found submerged in eight feet of water in a lake.

“The deformation of the stabilizer spars on both sides exhibited features consistent with downward failure,” the report reads.

The final accident report is expected to be complete in about 12 months.