# Accident 19981029030899A: Piper PA28181, Tooele, UT, October 29, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 29, 1998, 13:50 local time
- Place: Tooele, UT
- Airport: Bolinder Field-Tooele Valley
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Scud Running
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 40.5709° N, 112.3292° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.5709&lon=-112.3292&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3034B, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N3034B-1999-03-12) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-28-181 (registry code 7102807, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28-181) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA28181
- Reported engine: LYC O360A4M
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 560 total, 555 in this make and model, 20 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB DEN99LA018](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN99LA018) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19981029030899A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ANM07990005 ENROUTE FROM PVU TO TVY, IN LOW VISIBILITY, AIRCRAFT CONTACTED TERRAIN AT APPROXIMATELY 4700 FEET. THE PILOT STATED HE HAD MISJUDGED THE TERRAIN AND DESCENDED TOO LOW. PILOT FELT HE WAS CLEAR OF THE TERRAIN AND WOULD BE BRAKING CLEAR OF THE WEATHER VERY SOON.  (.4)ON OCTOBER 29, 1998, AT 1350 MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME, A PIPER PA-28-181, N3034B, IMPACTED TERRAIN DURING CRUISE FLIGHT APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES SOUTH OF TOOELE, UTAH.  THE PRIVATE PILOT AND HIS PASSENGER RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED BY POSTIMPACT FIRE.  INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED IN THE ACCIDENT AREA AND NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED FOR THIS PERSONAL CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT WHICH ORIGINATED FROM PROVO, UTAH, AT 1330.  THE FLIGHT WAS BEING CONDUCTED UNDER TITLE 14 CFR PART 91.  THE INTENDED DESTINATION WAS TOOELE.  ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO STAY BELOW THE CLOUDS, WHICH RESULTED IN COLLIDING WITH TERRAIN, WHEN HE INADVERTENTLY ENTERED INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, IN THE FORM OF FOG, APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES SHORT OF HIS DESTINATION.  WITNESSES, WHO WERE IN THE AREA WHERE THE ACCIDENT OCCURED, SAID FOG WAS FORMING RAPIDLY.  THE AIRCRAFT STUCK TERRAIN  AT AN ELEVATION OF 6,200 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL (MSL) AND THE DESTINATION AIRPORT ELEVATION WAS 4,316 FEET MSL. THE PILOT SAID HE HAD READ AND VIEWED TAPES ABOUT MOUNTAIN FLYING BECAUSE THIS WAS HIS FIRST EXPERIENCE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND HE MISREAD HIS MAP AS TO THE TERRAIN FEATURES AND MISJUDGED THE FOG CONDITIONS THAT WERE DEVELOPING.  HE SAID HE DID NOT THINK THE TERRAIN ELEVATION WAS AS HIGH WAS IT WAS IN THE AREA WHERE THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED.  IN HIS WRITTEN STATEMENT, THE PILOT STATED HE SHOULD HAVE TURNED BACK WHEN THE WEATHER CONDITIONS BEGAN TO DETERIORATE.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB DEN99LA018](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN99LA018), Oct 29, 1998: Piper PA28-181 (N3034B), Tooele, UT, destroyed. Probable cause: The pilot's VFR flight into IMC and his failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance. Contributng factors were fog, low ceilings, high terrain, the pilot's lack of familiarity with the geographic…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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