- Date
- May 27, 1994, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Nashua, MT
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3960MPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940527012819A
- Case key
- 41935
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
Airspeed was not maintained. Factors include an inadvertent stall.
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
While maneuvering during an aerial application flight, the pilot was turning and stalled the aircraft. The airplane descended and impacted the ground, collapsing the landing gear and causing substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On May 27, 1994, approximately 1100 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Piper PA-12, N3960M, impacted terrain approximately 10 miles East of Nashua, Montana while conducting aerial application activities. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant of the airplane, received serious injuries, and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The aerial application flight, which departed a private airstrip near Nashua, Montana approximately 15 minutes earlier, was in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed and there was no report of ELT activation.
The pilot stated that the aircraft was heavily loaded. He said he was in a turn and didn't have enough airspeed. The aircraft stalled with insufficient altitude to recover.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3960M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-2843
- Airframe hours
- 1,877
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Nielson, Mark
- Registered owner
- Nielson, Linda
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 3, 1992 · 25 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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 700 total · 400 in this make and model · 600 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 4 knots, gusting 6
- Visibility
- 99 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
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 N3960M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.