# NTSB SEA96LA041: Cessna 172K, N172NS, Park City, MT, January 6, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: January 6, 1996, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC) - Place: Park City, MT - Coordinates: 45.649662, -108.969665 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=45.6497&lon=-108.9697&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 9, 1996 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 42322 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA96LA041 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/42322/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA96LA041 ## Probable cause Inadequate visual lookout by the pilot, and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance from the transmission line. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with object, maneuvering - visual lookout - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - object - wire,transmission - altitude/clearance - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis The pilot stated that while flying approximately 100 feet above the ground, with higher terrain on both sides of the aircraft, he 'heard something strike the aircraft.' He stated that neither he nor his passenger 'had seen any obstacles that may have hit the plane.' The pilot stated that he then returned directly to Laurel, Montana, and landed without further incident. Post-flight inspection of the aircraft revealed an 8-inch-deep gash into the vertical stabilizer, from the leading edge straight back into the stabilizer, and a radio antenna on the top of the aircraft broken back at its base. The pilot stated the opinion in his accident report that 'by the nature of the damage...it was a wire strike that occurred,' and that he believed 'this accident was a result of failure on my part to maintain sufficient altitude.' ## Factual narrative On January 6, 1996, approximately 1330 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172K, N172NS, registered to Northern Skies Aviation of Laurel, Montana, received substantial damage in an inflight collision with an object. The pilot reported that the inflight collision occurred approximately 2 to 5 miles north of Park City, Montana. Following the occurrence, the flight returned to Laurel and landed without further incident. Neither the private pilot nor his passenger were injured. The 14 CFR 91 flight had been planned as a local flight out of Laurel. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot stated in his accident report: I departed Laurel Municipal Airport (6S8) at approximately 1300....We had been flying for about half an hour when we decided to descend in order to get a better view of the landscape....[We descended] to between 4,100 and 4,300 [feet] MSL, in order to fly through the various valleys between the plateaus present north of Park City....We had been down there only briefly when we heard something strike the aircraft. (It felt like driving a car over [railroad] tracks[.]) Neither of us had seen any obstacles that may have hit the plane. I immediately checked all of the controls and found that the plane still flew normally, so we flew directly back to Laurel and landed. Once on the ground, it was determined by the nature of the damage (a slice in the vertical fin, plus two broken antennas) that it was a wire strike that occurred. I believe this accident was a result of failure on my part to maintain sufficient altitude. Photographs showed the vertical fin damage to be a gash approximately 8 inches deep and 12 inches below the top of the stabilizer. The gash extended approximately straight back from the vertical tail leading edge into the tail, approximately parallel to the aircraft longitudinal axis. An antenna on the upper surface of the aircraft, at approximately the left wing trailing edge, was also broken back at its base. The Billings sectional aeronautical chart shows the ground elevation in the vicinity of the reported wire strike as approximately 4,000 feet above mean sea level. The pilot reported in a telephone conversation with the investigator that his altitude above the ground at the time of the strike was approximately 100 feet and that he was flying in a valley with high terrain on both sides of the aircraft. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N172NS](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N172NS), registered now, S/N 17257968, built 1969 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 172K - Registry model: [Cessna 172K](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172k) (registry code 2072430) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 172-57968 - Airframe hours: 4570 - Engines: LYCOMING O-320-E2D 150 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Northern Skies Aviation - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal - Last inspection: 100 hour, November 18, 1995, 55 hours before - Departed: 6S8, LAUREL, MT ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 18; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; seat: left; flight hours: 100 total, 96 in this make and model, 50 as pilot in command, 25 in the last 90 days, 10 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 210° at 16 knots, gusting 19 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 63 °F, dew point 45 °F - Altimeter: 30.00 inHg - Observed at: BIL, 18 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19960106000219A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960106000219A), Jan 6, 1996: Cessna 172K, Park City, MT, Substantial damage. Flying too low for safety. Struck wires. Flew to airport. Found vertical stabilizer and antennas damaged. . From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.