Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Frank Wiley Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Forsyth, Montana 59327
Thursday, August 18, 2011 9:25 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The operator reported that the pilot and passenger were going to survey a prairie dog town and take pictures. Hunters in the accident area observed the airplane fly overhead and descend below mountainous terrain while in a turn. The airplane crashed in an open field. The airplane damage and the ground scars at the accident site were consistent with the airplane being in a stalled condition at the time of the accident. The pilot likely failed to maintain adequate airspeed as he was increasing the bank angle to maintain visual reference to the ground, which resulted in a stall/mush, loss of control, and collision with terrain. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in a stall/mush, loss of control, and impact with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 925 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Forsyth |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59327 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 463442N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1065521W |
| Event Location Airport | FRANK WILEY FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MLS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 44 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 282 |
| Airport Elevation | 2630 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 73 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MLS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2630 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| 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) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMLS 181453Z AUTO 19004KT 10SM CLR 22/07 A29 |
| 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) | 32889 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AMN Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2014 2:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | cort |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7666D |
| NTSB Number | WPR11FA390 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-5935 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CYRUS CHAD H DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MILES CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59301-1553 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CYRUS CHAD H DBA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MILES CITY |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59301-1553 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MLS |
| Departure City | MILES CITY |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MLS |
| Destination City | MILES CITY |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2014 11:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| 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 | -- |