Bridger Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bridger, Montana 59014
Sunday, February 15, 1998 12:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot stated that he bounced during landing, so he decided to go around and try again. He said he pushed the carburetor heat in and gave the engine full throttle, but the airplane 'didn't want to fly. The left wing started to stall and put me into a left turn. I corrected and the right wing stalled, and I veered off to the right. I bounced across the runway and didn't get the plane corrected before the leading edge of my right wing hit the top strand of a barbed wire fence.' When the wing struck the wire, the airplane rotated 180 degrees and landed in a rubble pile. Winds were calm at the time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during a bounced landing recovery.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/15/1998
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City BRIDGER
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59014
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BRIDGER MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6S1
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 3720
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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 Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
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) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 130
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 15 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1240
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 10:48AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N947MG
NTSB Number SEA98LA037
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-11
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-11
Aircraft Serial Number ED-002
Certified Max Gross Weight 1220
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 24 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 17
Airframe Hours 206
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LONNIE SANFORD
Aircraft Owner Street Address BOX 557
Aircraft Owner City BRIDGER
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59014
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name TY L. SCHWEND
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address RT 1 BOX 1206
Operator City BRIDGER
Operator State MT
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 59014
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1225
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 16
Runway Length 3400
Runway Width 42
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --