SEA97LA009

The pilot was making a VFR approach on an easterly heading to a private airport. The aircraft collided with a fence and terrain about 1/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. Examination of the aircraft did not reveal any mechanical failures. The pilot subsequently died from injuries sustain in the accident. The pilot's son reported that the only thing the pilot said about the accident (before he died) was that the sun was in his eyes.

On October 10, 1996, about 0928 mountain daylight time, a Globe GC-1B, N3228K, impacted a fence and terrain near Caldwell, Idaho. The airplane was substantially damaged and the pilot, the sole occupant, died from injuries received in the accident on October 24, 1996. The personal flight had departed Nampa, Idaho at an unknown time. The flight was being operated in VFR conditions and no flight plan had been filed.

The airplane was observed by a witness at the Hubler airport. He said that the airplane seemed to be entering a downwind, but the witness was busy with other things so he didn't pay much attention. The witness later noticed the wing of an airplane sticking up near the west end of the field. He drove down the runway to investigate and found the wreckage with the pilot about 20-25 feet in front of the airplane.

FAA inspectors did the on-scene investigation and provided the wreckage diagram and photos attached to this report. The airplane was less than 1/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. The wreckage was near a broken barbed wire fence and still had barbed wire attached to the empennage. The FAA inspectors observed that, while landing to the east at that time of day, the pilot would have had the sun relatively low in the sky and in front of him.

An examination of the airplane engine was performed at the facility of Wolverine Engines on November 6, 1996 under the supervision of FAA inspectors. The observations and tests conducted during this examination did not reveal any evidence of pre-impact failure or malfunction.

The pilot's son told an FAA inspector that his father had been flying into Hubler field for 20 years but this was the first time, that the son was aware of, that the pilot had landed towards the east. He also said the only statement his father made about the accident was "the sun was in his eyes".