- Date
- July 24, 1982, 22:20 local (Jul 25, 1982, 05:20 UTC)
- Place
- Enterprise, OR
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N55492Piper 24-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 24, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820724031649A
- Case key
- 70606
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
Witnesses observed an aircraft fly over the city of Enterprise, Oregon on a bright night with clear sky conditions. Reportedly, the aircraft was flying very erratic; and just as it disappeared from the witnesses' sight, an explosion andfireball were observed where it disappeared. Accordimg to one witness, the aircraft appeared to maneuver up and then drop down before it crashed. The plane crashed on down sloping terrain in a nose low, right wing down attitude. The plane slid about 100 ft down hill and the wreckage was destroyed by fire. The propeller separated during impact and showed evidence of power; it was badly bent and had large gouge marks on the tips. The flight control cables were complete and unbroken to the tail and were continuous to both wings except where the wings had separated. A toxicological check of the pilot's blood revealed an alcohol level of 0.449%. The elevation of the crash site was about 3900 ft MSL.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55492
- Reported as
- Piper 24-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7325417
- Airframe hours
- 1,565
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bruce C. Sehofield
- Registered owner
- Bruce C. Sehofield
- Departed
- Joseph, OR
- Destination
- Joseph, OR
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 334 total · 28 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.