Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Smith, Montana 59035
Sunday, January 5, 1997 19:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Although the aircraft initially tracked within the lateral boundaries of a Victor airway during the dark night VFR flight from Billings, Montana, to Gillette, Wyoming, the pilot later veered off course and entered mountainous/hilly terrain. While in cruise flight, the aircraft impacted densely forested rising terrain at 7,800 feet MSL in a near-wings-level attitude.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain. Factors include the pilot inadvertently becoming lost/disoriented, the dark night (minimum ambient light), and mountainous/hilly terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/5/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | FORT SMITH |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59035 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1117 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 7 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3347Q |
| NTSB Number | SEA97FA043 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7703104 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 14 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 57 |
| Airframe Hours | 4452 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PFAU, J. AND ROSHIER, S. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1301 OVERDALE DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | GILLETTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82718 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JEFFREY M. PFAU |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1301 OVERDALE DR. |
| Operator City | GILLETTE |
| Operator State | WY |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 82718 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BIL |
| Departure City | BILLINGS |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1906 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GCC |
| Destination City | GILLETTE |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | -- |