ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 44250
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| Date: | Friday 16 December 2005 |
| Time: | 17:50 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-181 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N4350F |
| MSN: | 28-7790020 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1976 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 4950 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-360-A4M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Butte, MT -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Miles City, MT (KMLS) |
| Butte, MT (KBTM) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
When the pilot, who was not instrument rated, departed his point of origin, the area forecast for his destination was indicating the possibility of marginal VFR and locally IFR conditions due to fog, snow showers, and low clouds. He did not make use of FAA weather updating services while en route, and when he arrived in the area near his destination, it was already dark, and the weather at the airport had deteriorated to one-half mile visibility, freezing fog, moderate snow, and a ceiling of 800 feet broken. As he maneuvered toward the airport through mountainous/hilly terrain, he inadvertently entered IFR conditions, and then reversed course in order to return to VFR conditions. During his attempt to maneuver through the area of a mountain pass, the aircraft collided with trees on a steep snow-covered slope.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the terrain during low-level maneuvering at night. Factors included the pilot’s improper in-flight decision to continue into an area that was forecasted to possibly contain snow, fog, and low ceilings. Additional factors included his failure to obtain a weather update while en route, a dark night, mountainous terrain, trees, snow showers, fog, and the pilot’s inadvertent flight into instrument flight rules conditions while on a visual flight rules flight.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20051220X01995&key=1
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 06-Dec-2017 11:37 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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