Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Opheim, Montana 59250
Wednesday, July 14, 1999 11:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the 150 horsepower PA-18 had just returned to an aerial application site after refueling and taking on another load of chemicals. During his refueling/reloading stop he expressed concern about the limited performance of the aircraft at the current temperature (75-80 degrees Fahrenheit) and at the altitude he was flying (about 3,000 feet MSL). He therefore took on a reduced fuel load and mentioned that he was planning on finishing the field by taking on two half-loads of chemical instead of one full one. Although witnesses saw him only partially fill his fuel tanks, no one saw whether he filled his chemical hopper to the top or only took on a partial load. Upon returning to the field, he was seen to make a pass in one direction, but no one saw him return in the other direction. Soon thereafter a column of black smoke was seen rising from the field. When witnesses arrived at the application site, they found the aircraft where it had stall/mushed into rapidly rising terrain at a location where the pilot would be making a course reversal just off the end of the field.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an airspeed above stall speed (Vs), resulting in a stall/mush into the terrain during a course reversal at the end of an aerial application run. Factors include hilly terrain and high density altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/14/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | OPHEIM |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59250 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1802 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 14 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1145 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4385Z |
| NTSB Number | SEA99LA118 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-7409044 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 31 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3357 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WALLIE LEE MCPHEARSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11102 US HIGHWAY 50 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS ANIMAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81054 |
| 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 | NLLG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S00 |
| Departure City | OPHEIM |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2011 5:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| 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 | -- |