- Date
- October 1, 1987, 07:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Miles City, MT
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1377APiper PA-18-125
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report April 24, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19871001058559A
- Case key
- 17336
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
A cattle rancher was flying his aircraft looking for stray cattle and checking the condition of the ranch. He was at approximately 300 feet AGL when he spotted cattle that had strayed off the ranch. The pilot turned to get a better view of the cattle and flew into a box canyon. The investigation revealed the aircraft impacted the ground in a near verticalattitude at the FAR end of the box canyon. No preimpact malfunctions/failures were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1377A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-125
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-1208
- Airframe hours
- 1,360
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Smith Cattle, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Smith Cattle, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 2, 1987 · 32 hours before
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 225 total · 15 in this make and model · 185 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 280° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MLS, 39 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.