19790817040879A

Accident · Destroyed

FAA accident report · Piper PA-34-200 · Wendover, UT · August 17, 1979

Date
August 17, 1979 · 20:20 local
Place
Wendover, UT
Airport
Afb
Phase of flight
To Init Climb(1st Pwr Reduct)
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Destroyed
Aircraft
N32418
NTSB investigation
NTSBDEN79FA056
Reported as
Piper PA34200
People aboard
4
Fatal injuries
4
Pilot’s flight hours
85 total13 in this make and model0 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Both pilots had been drinking. PIC lost control of airplane on night takeoff over unlighted terrain.

As the FAA filed it

BOTH PILOTS HAD BEEN DRINKING. PIC LOST CONTROL OF AIRPLANE ON NIGHT TAKEOFF OVER UNLIGHTED TERRAIN.

NTSB investigation

The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.