- Date
- June 28, 1986, 23:45 local (Jun 29, 1986, 05:45 UTC)
- Place
- Townsend, MT
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N100WXPiper PA-28-236
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860628028139A
- Case key
- 16833
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
On 6/26/86, the plt & his wife had flown from helena, MT. To powell, WY, to visit family & relatives. On the day of the acdnt, he had consumed alcoholic beverages. Despite pleas fm his wife not to return to helena that evening, he elected to fly back. While en route, there was a catastrophic failure of the acft; the wreckage was scattered over a 1460' area. The rgt wing & both stabilators were found aprx 750' fm the main wreckage with evidence of overload failure. There was evidence of upward deformation/failure of wings & downward failure of the stabilators. Campers near the crash site rprtda moonless, cloudy ngt with thunder & lightning in the area, but no rain. Aprx 60 mi west at helena, the 2350 MDT wx was, in part: 6500' overcast, vis 15 mi. Elev of the crash site was aprx 6000'; elev of the wx stn was 3873'. The plt had only 6 hrs of ngt flying time (last ngt flt was logged on 6/29/83) & only 2.8 hrs of instrument time (last logged on 7/16/82). A check of the plt's blood showed an alcohol lvl of 0.115%.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N100WX
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-236
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7911062
- Airframe hours
- 794
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-J3A5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jack D. Bunn
- Registered owner
- The Garden Spot Market, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 22, 1986 · 38 hours before
- Departed
- POY · Powell, WY
- Destination
- HLN · Helena, MT
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 280 total · 141 in this make and model · 227 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 190° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HLN, 60 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.