Community mourns young pilot, Eagle Scout killed in plane crash

EVANSVILLE — The 18-year-old student pilot who died in a plane crash last week was a dedicated Eagle Scout with a heart for service who yearned to fly, those who knew him said.

Connor Ward Quisenberry, of Beaver Dam, Kentucky, graduated from Ohio County High School this year, according to his obituary. After graduating, Quisenberry attended Owensboro Community College and obtained his student pilot's license.

"He loved flying, all sports, the beach and spending time with his family and friends," Quisenberry's obituary states in part. "Connor was a very active member of Hartford Christian Church."

Quisenberry and a 22-year-old flight instructor, Timothy McKellar Jr., perished Sept. 27 after the Piper PA-28-series aircraft they were piloting encountered severe turbulence, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

On Sept. 28, searchers located Quisenberry's and McKellar's remains − along with the airplane − near New Panther Creek Church in Ohio County, Kentucky.

Amanda Shaffer, who served as Quisenberry's scoutmaster, told the Courier & Press that he "had a heart for service."

"He led by example and as a great role model," Shaffer said. "He was always willing to pitch in and help. If he saw a need, he filled it without hesitation... I couldn't begin to count how many service hours he has."

Quisenberry became Troop 173’s senior patrol leader, and he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in May 2022. His Eagle Scout service project entailed constructing a fire pit and seating area at Ohio County Park.

At the time of the crash, Quisenberry worked at Holiday World and for the City of Beaver Dam, all while he completed his ongoing college classes and flying lessons, Shaffer said.

"Everyone you talk to is going to tell you he’s a good kid," Shaffer explained. "And he really truly was. He was genuinely kind."

The Rev. Scott Parker, the senior minister at Hartford Christian Church, knew Quisenberry well. Parker told the Courier & Press that Quisenberry demonstrated remarkable dedication to his family, his community, his chuch and his faith. For more than a year, Quisenberry had been contemplating if he should become a minister himself.

“Connor loved his friends and would do anything for them,” Parker said. “He loved the Lord and served so faithfully at Hartford Christian Church.”

More: Remains of student pilot and instructor found after plane crashes in Ohio County, Kentucky

Just a few weeks before the fatal crash, Quisenberry learned he had been accepted into Johnson University, where he planned to study youth ministry work during the upcoming Spring semester.

Still, Quisenberry's passion for flying was, Parker and Shaffer said, intense. By mid-2022, he had already obtained his pilot’s license and chose to further his aviation experience by enrolling in a flight school in the fall of 2023.

Several of the Troop 173 boys attended Quisenberry's funeral on Sunday. The service opened with a recitation of the Scout Oath and Scout Law, mottos Shaffer said Quisenberry exemplified.

"He took that seriously and tried to live to those standards," Shaffer recalled. "He was mature, an old soul. He never sounded like a teenager. He was always deliberate and thorough in his work. He wanted to do the right things right."

McKellar, who served as Quisenberry's flight instructor on Sept. 27, operated the YouTube channel Big Rubber Ranch, which had more than 2,000 subscribers as of Monday afternoon. A video posted to the channel on Aug. 6 shows McKellar flying a fellow YouTuber to grab a meal from Waffle House.

"Sorry for the long pause from YouTube," McKellar wrote in the video's description. "I just finished my piloting school; that was super hectic, and now I’m back to posting."

But other posts McKellar is alleged to have authored on social media prior to the fatal, Sept. 27 crash have garnered intense criticism from the aviation community. Several of the posts appeared to show McKellar disparaging Quisenberry as the pair loaded up their aircraft to make the nighttime return flight to Owensboro.

Some of the posts also reportedly depicted McKellar photos and videos from inside the aircraft's cockpit as he and Quisenberry approached severe weather.

According to McKellar's obituary, McKellar's funeral was held Wednesday at the Breckinridge County High School Gymnasium.

McKellar loved “all things fast: lifted and diesel trucks, airplanes and motorcycles,” his obituary states. “Junior never met a stranger, made those around him laugh (and) loved to entertain.”

What investigators, flight data, reveal about the crash

NTSB spokeswoman Jennifer Gabris told the Courier & Press that Quisenberry and McKellar were en route from Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport to Owensboro-Daviess Regional Airport the night of Sept. 27, with McKellar acting as the instructor.

The pair were flying a four-seat, single-engine Piper PA-28-161 aircraft that was registered to Eagle Flight Academy, a flight school based in Owensboro. Eagle Flight Academy has not responded to requests for comment from the Courier & Press.

The pair reportedly encountered instrument weather conditions during the flight home, which caused them to contact air traffic control and request a modified flight plan.

“ATC (air traffic control) provided a radar vector to the instructor to move the airplane away from the extreme weather, and the pilot (McKellar) reported that they were in severe turbulence,” Gabris said. “Soon after, the controller lost contact with the pilot.”

According to investigators, staff at Evansville Regional Airport notified dispatchers in Kentucky that the Piper aircraft had likely crashed or gone missing at 10:55 p.m.

The aviation tracking firm FlightAware captured data detailing the flight using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast technology. ADS-B technology captures an aircraft’s position, along with other metrics, and broadcasts the data via high-frequency radio.

The data shows McKellar and Quisenberry performed several take-offs and landings at Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport before beginning their trip back to Owensboro at 9:55 p.m.

After climbing to an initial altitude of about 1,600 feet, the Piper aircraft is seen flying a steady, northwest heading toward a pair of large storm cells. As the aircraft approached Morgantown, Kentucky, it appeared to veer around the outer edge of a storm on its left while also avoiding a second cell on its right.

At 10:44 p.m., the plane began to gain altitude rapidly while conducting several sharp turns, ultimately reaching a maximum altitude of 6,500 feet southwest of Whitesville, Kentucky. By 10:48 p.m., the aircraft’s positive climb rate turned into a steep descent, according to the ADS-B data.

FlightAware’s NDS-B tracking service received its last transmission from the Piper PA-28 at 11:49 p.m. That data entry shows the plane was traveling 155 mph and descending at a rate of 3,818 feet per minute.

After searchers located the crash site, federal investigators transported the wreckage to a secure facility in Tennessee for further examination, according to Gabris.

The agency is expected to publish a preliminary crash report within weeks, though the final report could take one to two years to complete.

“Part of the investigation will be to request radar data, weather information, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records,” Gabris said. “NTSB investigators will look at the human, machine and environment as the outline of the investigation.”

Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Community mourns young pilot, Eagle Scout killed in KY plane crash