- Date
- August 5, 1989, 18:45 local (Aug 6, 1989, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Lovell, WY
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9661YBeech P35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890805027729A
- Case key
- 17759
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
Improper in-flight planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in insufficient altitude to continue out of the canyon or turn around. The terrain and high density altitude were related factors.
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 plt was flying two relatives and a friend on a flight over mountainous terrain. He said he flew up a canyon. As he apchd the upper end, he discovered that the plane could not climb fast enough to clear the terrain & there was not enough room to turn around. An emergency landing was made in a stand of trees. As the plane descended through the trees, the wings, tail, and engine were severed, but the cabin section remained intact. The ELT activated & search personnel rescued the survivors the next morning. Elevation of the acdnt site was about 7900 ft; density alt was estd to be about 10,000 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9661Y
- Reported as
- Beech P35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D7079
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-N, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Howard, Richard H.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BIL · Billings, 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,621 total · 1,171 in this make and model · 1,481 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.