- Date
- September 19, 1996, 09:56 local (15:56 UTC)
- Place
- Gillette, WY
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8789CPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 23, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960919028699A
- Case key
- 42465
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
failure of the pilot to see-and-avoid the obstruction (power line). The powerline was a related factor.
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
The flight was part of a predator reduction program. The surviving passenger said that they were trying to keep up with a fox that they had seen earlier, when the airplane hit a power line and crashed. The power line was about 40 feet above the terrain.
Factual narrative
On September 19, 1996, about 0956 Mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-18, N8789C operated as a 14 CFR Part 91 business flight, was substantially damaged when it hit power lines and then terrain while maneuvering about 11 miles south of Gillette, Wyoming. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The pilot was fatally injured and the passenger received serious injuries. The flight had departed Gillette about 0730 that morning. The flight was part of a predator reduction program. The pilot was in the front seat and a hunter was in the rear seat of the airplane.
FAA inspectors documented the scene of the accident. The wreckage was about 60 feet south of a broken power line that was about 40 feet high. The power line ran east and west. The local power company reported that there was a power interruption about 0956.
The passenger told FAA inspectors that the pilot was trying to keep up with a fox they had earlier spotted. The passenger reached down to pick up the shotgun, and when he looked up again, the airplane was into the power lines. The passenger got out of the airplane and walked to a ranch house for help.
An autopsy was performed on the pilot by Campbell County Coroner. Cause of death was listed as a cervical spine fracture. Toxicological tests performed by the FAA had negative results for carbon monoxide, drugs and alcohol.
No pilot or aircraft records were located. Pilot times in this report are based on FAA medical records.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8789C
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-2885
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Maher, Robert W.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GCC
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 6,400 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KGC, 11 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.