Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Yellowstone Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Yellowstone, Montana 59758
Monday, August 12, 2013 11:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 12, 2013, about 1130 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Beech E-35, N3226C, impacted terrain while landing at Yellowstone Airport (WYS), West Yellowstone, Montana. The airplane was registered to Avery Enterprises, Inc. and operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The commercial pilot was fatally injured, and the one passenger sustained serious injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage by impact forces. The cross-country business flight departed Rigby, Idaho, sometime after 1000 with a planned destination of Tioga, North Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
Witnesses at WYS reported the accident pilot attempted to make radio contact on the airport Unicom frequency (123.0) but the pilot did not respond to the fix base operator’s replies. The accident airplane was observed making a low approach down runway 19 between 100-200 feet above ground level, with the landing gear extended. When the witnesses next observed the airplane, it was on the downwind, about 50-75 feet above them. The landing gear was still in the extended position, and the engine sounds were normal.
One witness watched the airplane as it turned onto the base leg. It appeared to him that the plane had overflown final and was attempting to correct by increasing the angle of bank. The witness then saw the airplane descend in a nose low attitude until it impacted the ground.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Yellowstone |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59758 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444210N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1110629W |
| Event Location Airport | Yellowstone Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WYS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6649 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1130 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6649 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KWYS 121730Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 21/19 A30 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | WYS Airport Manager |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2013 5:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3226C |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA368 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | E35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-3891 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 12 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 6016 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Avery Enterprises Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Powers Lake |
| Aircraft Owner State | ND |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 58773 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Avery Enterprises Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Powers Lake |
| Operator State | ND |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 58773 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | U56 |
| Departure City | Rigby |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | D60 |
| Destination City | Tioga |
| Destination State | ND |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2013 5:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 8400 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |