Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alice, North Dakota 58031
Wednesday, August 22, 2001 18:49 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted the terrain while attempting an aerobatic maneuver. A witness to the accident stated he saw the accident airplane "do 3 or 4 turns going down after a stall." The witness reported the airplane descended below a tree line, impacting the ground. Another witness reported the accident airplane was performing "spins" and "barrel rolls" prior to the accident. Local law enforcement reported there was several beer cans around and in the airplane wreckage. No anomalies were found with the airplane that could be associated to any pre-impact condition. Toxicology test results indicate that 55 mg/dL of ethanol was detected in the pilot's blood, equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.055%. Additionally, sertaline (trade name Zoloft) and its metabolite (desmethylsertraline) were found in blood, liver, and urine. 1.672 ug/mL of sertaline and 2.983 ug/mL of desmethylsertaline were detected in the pilot's blood. Sertraline is a prescription antidepressant, also used in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder. The pilot did not report the use of any medication at his last FAA medical examination, completed on June 13, 2000. Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 91.17 "Alcohol or drugs" states no person may act, or attempt to act, as a crewmember of a civil aircraft within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage, while under the influence of alcohol, while using any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety, or while having 0.04 percent by weight or more alcohol in the blood.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's unsuccessful recovery from an intentional aerobatic stall/spin maneuver. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's impairment (alcohol), and his psychological condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1849 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Alice |
| Event State | NORTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 58031 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 900 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2766 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 1853cdt (1753cst) 0504KT 10SM CLR 29/23 A2993 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 13145 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 22 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2204 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA, Fargo FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4329Z |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA294 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-8649 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | General Air Service, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 96 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Valley City |
| Aircraft Owner State | ND |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 58072 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | GNRA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2003 8:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |