Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dubois Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dubois, Idaho 83423
Wednesday, March 11, 1998 13:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot had reviewed the intended route of flight, including the Dubois airport, previous to departing Rexburg on his cross country solo. After landing first at Pocatello, and then Arco, he proceeded to Dubois where he found the airport and its single runway (16/34) snow covered. The Airport/Facility Directory effective at the time of the accident advised the reader that 'no winter maintenance' was available and the informational diagram of the Dubois airport (which was Xeroxed on the back side of the student's flight planner log for the accident trip) advised that the 'airport is closed from November to April because of snow.' The student 'decided to do a fly-by (as a missed landing) about 20'-15' above the runway' and reported that when he 'got to the transition point (he) applied full power and pulled the yoke back. Almost instantly, as the plane rotated, (he) felt drag as a wheel caught in the snow.' As the aircraft decelerated, rolling through the snow, the nose gear collapsed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's misjudgment of altitude/clearance and overloading of the nose gear. A contributing factor was the snow-covered turf runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/11/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | DUBOIS |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83423 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DUBOIS MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U41 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 5123 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | U11 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5123 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 853 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 11 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1312 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2438L |
| NTSB Number | SEA98LA043 |
| 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-38-112 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-38-112 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38-79A0703 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 13 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 5262 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AERO TECHNICIANS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | REXBURG AIRPORT, BOX 7 |
| Aircraft Owner City | REXBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83440 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PERHAM, JOHN, J. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 406 |
| Operator City | UCON |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 83454 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | U11 |
| Departure City | REXBURG |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1050 |
| 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 | 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 | 16 |
| Runway Length | 4600 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |