Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001
Tuesady, May 16, 1995 20:32 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot contacted Cheyenne approach control at dusk and reported he was 24 miles north of the airport for landing. He was advised '...there is a thunderstorm in the vicinity of the airport north through northeast moving north occasional lightning cloud to ground and a previous aircraft reported severe turbulence.' The pilot acknowledged, then there was no further communication with the aircraft. It was subsequently reported as missing. Personnel responding to an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal reported an extremely low ceiling. The aircraft wreckage was found the next morning about 15 miles north of Cheyenne Airport. Investigation revealed the airplane had impacted gently rising terrain. Wreckage was oriented in a 610' long pattern on a southeasterly heading. Slash marks from both propellers were found, beginning at the initial ground impact point. No preimpact malfunction of the airplane was found. Samples taken from the pilot's remains tested positive for three over-the-counter medications, one of which is not approved for use while flying an airplane; however, the concentrations were so low that they were not quantified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance from rising terrain. Factors relating to the accident were: low light conditions at dusk, low ceilings with thunderstorms in the area, and continued flight by the pilot into adverse weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/16/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2032 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | CHEYENNE |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82001 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2005 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 27 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6860 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1149 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 16 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2341 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2883D |
| NTSB Number | SEA95FA101 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7970323 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 6 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 7143 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PORTER, CHARLES R. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 122 EAST 27TH ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHEYENNE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82001 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | SHAS |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CPR |
| Departure City | CASPER |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1941 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CYS |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |