What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) Very experienced retired airline pilot received fatal injuries when he had an in-flight collision with power lines and terrain near his airstrip located on his ranch. Witnesses to the crash stated that they observed the aircraft making numerous dives and pullups close to the ground as the pilot was helping ranch hands round up cattle from the range. There were some witness statements that described a rough running engine just prior to the collision with the powerlines. The aircraft had about twenty gallons of fuel remaining in the tanks after the accident. There was no fire. A team will gather and perform an analysis of the engine in a shop setting within the next few weeks. An autopsy was performed on the pilot and the results will not be available for a few more weeks.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) VERY EXPERIENCED RETIRED AIRLINE PILOT RECEIVED FATAL INJURIES WHEN HE HAD AN IN-FLIGHT COLLISION WITH POWER LINES AND TERRAIN NEAR HIS AIRSTRIP LOCATED ON HIS RANCH. WITNESSES TO THE CRASH STATED THAT THEY OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT MAKING NUMEROUS DIVES AND PULLUPS CLOSE TO THE GROUND AS THE PILOT WAS HELPING RANCH HANDS ROUND UP CATTLE FROM THE RANGE. THERE WERE SOME WITNESS STATEMENTS THAT DESCRIBED A ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE JUST PRIOR TO THE COLLISION WITH THE POWERLINES. THE AIRCRAFT HAD ABOUT TWENTY GALLONS OF FUEL REMAINING IN THE TANKS AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THERE WAS NO FIRE. A TEAM WILL GATHER AND PERFORM AN ANALYSIS OF THE ENGINE IN A SHOP SETTING WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. AN AUTOPSY WAS PERFORMED ON THE PILOT AND THE RESULTS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR A FEW MORE WEEKS.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.