- Date
- January 1, 1991, 15:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dayville, OR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8982DPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910101002849A
- Case key
- 41344
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 poor in flight decision. Factors include mountainous/hilly terrain.
Analysis
The airplane departed the airfield at approximately 1300 mountain standard time on new years day. The next day his family, which expected him to return before dark on the day of departure, reported the aircraft missing. The unsuccessful search was suspended thirteen days later. Approximately 16 months after the crash, the aircraft was discovered by a timber cruiser in a dense old growth forest. The aircraft, which had burned, sustained substantial damage when it impacted a series of coniferous trees near the center of a steep sided box canyon, at the 5,000 foot level of a 7,000 foot mountain.
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
- N8982D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-6377
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Welch, Steven S.
- Registered owner
- Welch, Steven S.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 20, 1990
- Departed
- S33 · Madras, 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Flight hours
- 237 total · 110 in this make and model · 209 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 45 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Observed at
- RDM, 70 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.
Other investigations on N8982D · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.