Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Big Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Creek, Idaho 83611
Sunday, June 28, 1998 11:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Just after takeoff from the grass/turf airstrip, the pilot sensed that something was wrong with the way the aircraft was performing. Since he was concerned that the perceived performance irregularity may be related to a 'repair' he had performed using duct tape to strengthen a bent wing rib and to cover torn wing skin, he elected to make an immediate emergency landing. In order to land in the opposite direction from which he took off, the pilot turned right about 70 or 80 degrees, and then entered a steeply banked left turn in order to bring the aircraft back around to the runway. As the aircraft neared the runway, the turn tightened, and the pilot let the aircraft get below minimum power-on stalling speed. The aircraft then stall/mushed into the terrain. According to witnesses, the aircraft never got more than 100 feet above the ground (AGL) during the entire maneuver. The density altitude was later calculated to be approximately 7,800 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering to an emergency landing, resulting in an inadvertent stall/mush into the terrain. A contributing factor was the high density altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | BIG CREEK |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83611 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BIG CREEK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U60 |
| 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 | 5743 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| 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) | 7800 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 370 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N44536 |
| NTSB Number | SEA98LA113 |
| 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-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-6611 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Apr 20 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 2498 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MILLER, JEFFREY AND CLIFFORD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2921 MANCHESTER DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CALDWELL |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83605 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | U60 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EUL |
| Destination City | CALDWELL |
| Destination State | ID |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 3550 |
| Runway Width | 110 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |