Medical examiner identifies pilot killed in Cleburne plane crash
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified a pilot who was killed in a small plane crash Tuesday evening in Johnson County.
Joshua Bo Kirkpatrick, 41, of Cleburne, died Tuesday around 6 p.m. after a small aircraft he was operating crashed into a field near his home, south of Cleburne Regional Airport.
Federal Aviation Administration records indicate Kirkpatrick had a student pilot certificate issued in 2018 and had no limitations on his student license other than the standard student limitation of no passengers.
Joshua Kirkpatrick’s nephew, Rafe Kirkpatrick, said his uncle was a provider, a family man and someone you could talk to without judgment. He had just recently moved his family into their home in Cleburne, his nephew said.
Joshua Kirkpatrick, who went by Bo to those close to him, put his family above all else, Rafe said.
He loved cornhole and ping pong and would spend family gatherings, which he was more frequently hosting at his home in Cleburne, playing those games with the kids while the rest of the adults had conversations.
“When he was around he always did his best to make the best life for his family,” Rafe told the Star-Telegram. “He’s done everything he can to make it his dream home.”
He always tried to make every moment for his kids and family into the best memories he possibly could, like the time he took his son and Rafe duck hunting.
“That was one of the first times I spent a good amount of time with him and he wanted to make it a good experience for his son and for all of us,” Rafe said. “His personality as a father really shined there, his willingness to be with his son and show him some new experiences.”
Joshua Kirkpatrick spent the day teaching the boys how to hunt ducks and making them laugh with his unique, sometimes edgy but not inappropriate sense of humor, Rafe said. Between Rafe Kirkpatrick’s father and two uncles, Joshua Kirkpatrick was the jokester and the free spirit; the one you would go to for advice and in whom you knew you could confide.
Joshua worked most of the time in South Texas, his nephew said. He’d taken to regularly flying from Cleburne to wherever he was working, instead of driving. When he’d come home, he’d fly a low circle around the house before heading to the airport.
Whenever he had time off work, he spent as much of it he could with his family.
“It was his way of saying, ‘I’m home,’ “ Rafe said.
The Department of Public Safety told WFAA-TV that the pilot was the only one aboard the plane.
Witnesses told investigators the plane, an American Aviation AA-1A, was making low maneuvers when it went nose down and hit the ground in the 4800 block of South Nolan River Road, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said. Records indicate Joshua Kirkpatrick owned the plane.
According to medical examiner records, the site of the crash was within a block of Kirkpatrick’s home. His nephew said the crash was only a couple houses away from his home.
FAA records do not indicate any previous crashes or incidents with the plane. If there were previous incidents and the aircraft’s registration number (commonly referred to as a tail number) changed, those might not show in the basic history of the aircraft.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. A preliminary report is expected to be completed by June 1, but a complete investigation can take anywhere from 12 months to 24 months, Knudson said.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 10:25 AM.
