20230708008519A

Accident · Substantial damage

FAA accident report · Piper PA-12 · Judith Gap, MT · July 8, 2023

Date
July 8, 2023 · 12:00 local
Place
Judith Gap, MT
Phase of flight
Takeoff: Climb Out
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Substantial damage
Aircraft
N4135M
NTSB investigation
NTSBWPR23LA266
Reported as
Piper PA-12
Reported engine
Lycoming 0-235 series
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
1
Pilot’s certificates
Private pilot, student
Pilot’s flight hours
349 total239 in this make and model16 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.

Pilot struck an electrical line support pole with right wing, rotated and continued backwards until impacting the ground and rolling into a small cow pond.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT STRUCK AN ELECTRICAL LINE SUPPORT POLE WITH RIGHT WING, ROTATED AND CONTINUED BACKWARDS UNTIL IMPACTING THE GROUND AND ROLLING INTO A SMALL COW POND.

NTSB investigation

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