Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sun River, Oregon 97101
Saturday, January 11, 1997 19:25 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot, who was accompanied by a private pilot observer, descended through a hole in the clouds, while diverting from the planned destination due to en route weather conditions. During the descent, visual contact with the surface was lost. The pilot stated that as he resumed level cruise flight, they saw snow-covered trees and attempted to climb by adding full power and pitching up. Also, he said that when they saw that the terrain was rising faster than the airplane was climbing, they pulled back on the control wheel and made a power-on mushing flare into the pine trees and came to a stop in 3 feet of snow. The two pilots spent the night with the wreckage in winter conditions and were rescued the following morning.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

inadvertent VFR flight by the pilot into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and his failure to maintain altitude/clearance above moutainous/wooded terrain. Factors relating to the accident were: darkness, adverse weather conditions, and the proximity of mountainous terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/11/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1925
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City SUN RIVER
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97101
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1916 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KRD
Elevation of weather observation facility 3077
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 66
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 11 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2100
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 N8414B
NTSB Number SEA97LA048
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-161
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-161
Aircraft Serial Number 28-8116268
Certified Max Gross Weight 2470
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Oct 15 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 44
Airframe Hours 6862
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 28715 AIRPORT ROAD
Aircraft Owner City EUGENE
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97402
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
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BOI
Departure City BOISE
Departure State ID
Departure Country
Departure Time 1748
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code S07
Destination City BEND
Destination State OR
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
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 --