- Date
- September 7, 1997, 17:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Jordan, MT
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N98833Piper J-3
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970907048029A
- Case key
- 42686
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 pilot's inadequate remedial action during an inadvertent stall/spin entry. Factors include buzzing, a rapid pull-up, and failure to maintain proper airspeed (Vs).
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 person who was flying the aircraft had been giving rides to some of the individuals who had gathered at a ranch for a horse sale. When he gave these rides, he took off from a field near where the sale was taking place, and then would make a number of low passes which concluded with steep pull-ups. On the accident flight, he made a low pass, pulled up steeply, and appeared to be initiating a turn near the top of his pull-up. As the aircraft slowed at the top of the pull-up, it entered a spin from which the 'pilot' did not recover. Witnesses reported that the individual flying the aircraft had told a number of persons present at the sale that he did not possess an FAA pilot's certificate. A search of FAA records confirmed that he was not a certificated pilot.
Factual narrative
On September 7, 1997, approximately 1715 mountain daylight time, a Piper J-3, N98833, impacted the terrain while maneuvering in the vicinity of a horse ranch near Jordan, Utah. The individual who was flying the aircraft, who was not a certificated pilot, received fatal injuries, as did his passenger. The aircraft, which was owned and operated by the individual who was at the controls, caught fire upon impact and was destroyed. The personal pleasure flight, which took off from a field near the ranch, had been airborne for about five minutes, and was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT.
According to witnesses, the owner of the aircraft had been giving rides to some of the people who had gathered at the ranch for a horse sale. During these rides he had made multiple low-level, high-speed passes, and then pulled up steeply at the conclusion of the pass. During the accident flight, he made a low pass and a steep pull-up, and then appeared to be initiating a turn when the aircraft's nose dropped and it entered a spin. The aircraft did not recover from the spin prior to hitting the ground. After hitting the ground, the aircraft's fuel tank burst, and the wreckage was engulfed in flames.
According to witnesses, the individual flying the aircraft told a number of individuals at the ranch that he did not possess a pilot's certificate. A search of FAA records confirmed this statement.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98833
- Reported as
- Piper J-3
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19082
- Engine
- Continental A-65, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James T. Hentges
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
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
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.