Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crowheart, Wyoming 82512
Wednesday, August 6, 2003 13:50 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot, with his three passengers, was climbing through 9,500 feet to fly over a mountain. He said that he encountered a severe downdraft and was unable to clear the mountain peak. He made a forced landing straight ahead, "for fear of a stall or spin into the trees." The airplane slid approximately 100 feet, separating the fixed landing gear and crushing inward the fuselage bottom. The density altitude at the accident location, an altitude of 8,795 feet, was calculated to be 11,955 feet. The density altitude at 9,500 feet was calculated to be 12,825 feet. The airplane manufacturer's representative said that "published engine performance charts indicate that the airplane had exceeded its certificated limitations." A postaccident engine test run was performed, and no anomalies were identified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning (attempting to exceed aircraft's published certificated performance), the pilot not obtaining sufficient altitude to clear the terrain (not possible), and the pilot's inadequate in flight planning/decision making. Contributing factors were the high-density weather conditions, the downdraft weather conditions, and the mountainous terrain condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/6/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1350 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Crowheart |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82512 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 431706N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1092008W |
| 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 | 46 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 290 |
| Airport Elevation | 5525 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5525 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| 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) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 11955 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14719 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 6 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1404 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2004 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Casper Flight Standards Field Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2973T |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA139 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8016008 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ISO Ero Service Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1410 North Kerr Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28405 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | RIW |
| Departure City | Riverton |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1320 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JAC |
| Destination City | Jackson Hole |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2003 11:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |