The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report in connection with a March 20 fatal plane crash in Whiteside County.

The report indicates Justin Wiggins of Dixon was a student pilot on an instructional flight at the time of the crash, which happened about 3 p.m. in the area of Thome and McNeil roads near Rock Falls. Wiggins, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the plane’s sole occupant.

According to the report, Wiggins’s flight instructor said Wiggins arrived at the Whiteside County Airport in Rock Falls about 2:30 p.m. March 20 to complete his 10th solo flight since receiving his solo endorsement on Feb. 12.

The instructor said the wind had been variable throughout the day, according to the report. The instructor also said Wiggins was going to use runway 25 but was unsure what flight maneuver he was going perform for the local flight.

The report indicates local emergency services received an automatic crash detection alert from Wiggins’s Apple iPhone at 3:03 p.m. Seven minutes later, first responders discovered the Piper PA-28-140 aircraft upright in an agricultural field 1,100 feet south of runway 25. No witnesses observed the accident.

The airplane’s initial impact point ground scar contained fragments of the left wing tip and leading edge. A second impact ground depression contained forward fuselage debris. The left wing was separated from the airframe and found 67 feet past the initial impact point, according to the report.

A secondary debris field contained various baggage compartment items, sections of the cockpit instrument panel and interior, and personal items.

According to the report, a review of Wiggins’s logbook showed about 20 hours of recorded total flight time, 11.1 hours of dual instruction, and 3.8 hours of recorded solo time as of the logbook’s last entry on Feb. 15.

The flight instructor stated Wiggins had flown an additional six solo and three dual instruction flights since Feb. 15 and had performed three unassisted takeoffs and landings with the flight instructor earlier in the day.

“The flight instructor had no concerns with him performing further solo flights,” according to the report.