“On June 3, 2025, about 1145 eastern daylight time, a Universal Stinson 108 airplane, N40518 was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Farmington, North Carolina. The pilot and one passenger were fatally injured, and one passenger was seriously injured. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The airplane departed runway 2 at the Sugar Valley Airport (5NC2), Mocksville, North Carolina, and flew around the traffic pattern. Upon turning base leg for runway 2, the UNICOM operator, who was looking out the airport office window facing southeast, advised the pilot that there was a turtle on the runway.”

“According to the UNICOM operator, the pilot landed about 1,400 ft down the 2,424 ft runway and then lifted the right main wheel to avoid the turtle. The UNICOM operator stated that she heard the pilot advance the throttle after he raised the right wheel. The airplane left her point of view, and she was unable to see the airplane after that. A man cutting the grass at the end of runway 2 reported that he saw the turtle on the runway and the pilot raised the right wheel to avoid the turtle.”

“After that, the wings began to rock back and forth. Then the airplane took off again, but he lost site of the airplane when it passed behind a hangar. The airplane disappeared just over the trees on the northeast side of the runway and then he heard a loud crash and saw smoke,” says the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the June 3rd fatal double crash in Mocksville, North Carolina, issued Wednesday. The size of the turtle was not disclosed in the report.