- Date
- October 24, 1992, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Trenton, ND
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8675LPiper PA-25-260
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921024043289A
- Case key
- 15613
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
The pilot's improper aircraft handling while maneuvering at low altitude.
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
A witness reported the pilot was making a series of low passes over a farm house, pulling up and changing direction between each pass. He stated the pilot '...dispensed some sort of smoke...' During the passes. The FAA inspector stated the left wing of the airplane struck a small tree during a low pass. Witnesses stated on about the fifth low pass, the airplane pulled up in a steep bank turn, then pitched down and impacted the ground. A postimpact ground fire ensued. There was no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8675L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-5084
- Airframe hours
- 3,500
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B2C5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jamestown Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Jamestown Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 16, 1991 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- JMS · Jamestown, ND
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
- 29
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 889 total · 103 in this make and model · 826 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ISN, 300 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.
Other investigations on N8675L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.