- Date
- January 2, 1992, 13:05 local (19:05 UTC)
- Place
- Mosinee, WI
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N500BHPiper PA-31P
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920102000049A
- Case key
- 15280
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
An inflight fire with the cabin heater as the origin, and unsuitable terrain in which to make a forced landing. A factor related to the accident was the soft terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Pilot was cleared for an ILS approach at his destination, and requested to report altitude of 3,000 feet on the approach. This was the last radio transmission received from the pilot. Aircraft was found in soft field six miles from the airport. Landing gear was up, flaps were down. Fisherman nearby reported hearing the aircraft maneuvering at low altitude. He reported that the engines sounded fine, but the sound was changing in pitch and intensity. He reported that got quiet just a few seconds before he heard the impact. The investigation revealed that there was evidence of a fire in the nose baggage compartment. The cabin heater is located in the nose baggage compartment, and had a recent history of discrepancies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N500BH
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31P-7530024
- Airframe hours
- 3,520
- Engine
- Lycoming TIGO-541-E1A, 425 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- Both
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Becher Hoppe Engineers, Inc., doing business as Becher Hoppe Engineers, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Becher Hoppe Engineers, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · October 25, 1991 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- MSP · Minneapolis, MN
- Destination
- CWA · Mosinee, WI
- Flight plan
- IFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,150 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CWA, 6 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.