19810828052509A

Accident · Destroyed

FAA accident report · Piper PA32RT300 · Happy Camp, CA · August 28, 1981

Date
August 28, 1981 · 09:10 local
Place
Happy Camp, CA
Phase of flight
Unauth Low Level Opns
Operating rules
Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Damage
Destroyed
Aircraft
N2174G
NTSB investigation
NTSBLAX81FA122
Reported as
Piper PA32RT300
Reported engine
Lycoming IO540K1G5
People aboard
3
Fatal injuries
3
Pilot’s flight hours
3,175 total25 in this make and model63 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.

Flying at treetop level, heavily loaded. Struck trees on rising terrain.

As the FAA filed it

FLYING AT TREETOP LEVEL, HEAVILY LOADED. STRUCK TREES ON RISING 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.