Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wolf Point, Montana 59274
Monday, June 28, 2004 20:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A family member said the pilot had previously mentioned to her that there was a way to make the airplane turn quicker by pulling harder on some of the cables that control the parachute. On the flight prior to the accident she didn't feel comfortable with some of the turns the pilot was making and wanted him to land. While watching the next flight, estimated to be 500 feet above the ground, she observed the aircraft make some tight turns and lose altitude before impacting the ground and erupt into flames. An instructor pilot, who had only given the pilot ground instruction on how to fly the aircraft, had previously advised the pilot that he needed more instruction before he would be able to fly the airplane. The instructor subsequently discovered that the pilot had been flying the plane since he first purchased it. The instructor again advised the pilot that he needed to get additional instruction and the pilot agreed; however, this never happened. Shortly after the accident occurred a family member told the instructor that the pilot had given her a ride and was making sharp turns with the airplane, which she felt was the cause of the accident. The instructor said that pulling in too much steering line can collapse the side of the parachute the line is on. The instructor believed the pilot was unable to re-inflate the parachute before impacting the ground after the steering lines became entangled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control as a result of trying a low altitude quick turning maneuver. A factor was the pilot's lack of experience in the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wolf Point |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59274 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 475408N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1053829W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1986 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16626 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena, Montana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | None |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA119 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | APCO |
| Aircraft Model | Powered Parachute |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Dean C. Dillon |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Wolf Point |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59274 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Wolf Point |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2020 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Wolf Point |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 15 2010 12:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |