- Date
- November 30, 1990, 12:46 local (19:46 UTC)
- Place
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4678JPiper PA-28R-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901130052269A
- Case key
- 41298
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's intentional buzzing of uninhabited island in the great Salt lake and his misjudging the timing of a pull-up maneuver to clear rising terrain of a ridgeline.
Analysis
The pilot descended to a low altitude before reaching an uninhabited island in the great Salt lake and attempted a pull-up maneuver to fly over a ridgeline on the island. The left wing tip impacted rising terrain near the top of the ridgeline. The aircraft cartwheeled over the ridgeline, traveled 750 ft and impacted the ground.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4678J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-30578
- Airframe hours
- 4,156
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B1E, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hill Afb Aero Club
- Registered owner
- M & W Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · November 7, 1990 · 32 hours before
- Departed
- END · Wendover, UT
- Destination
- HIF · Hill Afb, UT
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 25
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 208 total · 21 in this make and model · 118 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SLC, 28 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.