- Date
- July 13, 2002, 09:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Worland, WY
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N28717American General AA5B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 6, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards Field Office
- FAA report
- 20020713018499A
- Case key
- 55257
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 selection of an inadequate altitude for crossing mountainous terrain, resulting in a collision with trees. A contributing factor was the downdraft.
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
The pilot said he was crossing a mountain range approximately 800 feet above each series of mountains. A downdraft caused the airplane to lose both altitude and airspeed. Rising terrain prevented him from completing a 180-degree turn and the airplane struck a tree then impacted the ground.
Factual narrative
On July 13, 2002, approximately 0930 mountain daylight time, a Grumman American AA5B, N28717, was substantially damaged when it struck terrain while maneuvering near Worland, Wyoming. Both the airline transport pilot was seriously injured, but his passenger sustained only minor injuries. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the cross-country flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated in Cody, Wyoming, at 0840, and was en route to Valentine, Nebraska.
In his accident report, the pilot said he was crossing the Big Horn mountain range approximately 800 feet above each series of ridges. He wrote, "After crossing a set of mountains, we hit a downdraft, causing both loss of altitude and loss of airspeed. We attempted a 180-degree turn to get out of the downdraft, but combined with the rising terrain, we were unable to complete the turn. We hit a tree lot at 70 KIAS (knots indicated airspeed) and then impacted the ground."
Both wings and the landing gear were torn off the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N28717
- Reported as
- American General AA5B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5B-0771
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4K, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gregg S. Wilson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- COD · Cody, WY
- Destination
- VTN · Valentine, NE
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
- 45
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- October 28, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,464 total · 1,400 in this make and model · 4,084 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- WRL, 52 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.