- Date
- March 22, 2009, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Butte, MT
- Injuries
- 14 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N128CMPilatus PC-12/45
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 22, 2011
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- NTSB - Operations GC, NTSB - Meteorology GC, NTSB - Medical Officer, NTSB - AS-40, NTSB - Performance, NTSB - Survival Factors GC, NTSB - ATC GC, NTSB - Witness GC, NTSB - Materials Engineer, NTSB - Airworthiness GC, NTSB - Emergency Operations Coordinator, NTSB - Human Factors / Operations
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20090322004129A
- Case key
- 73527
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
(1) the pilot's failure to ensure that a fuel system icing inhibitor was added to the fuel before the flights on the day of the accident; (2) his failure to take appropriate remedial actions after a low fuel pressure state (resulting from icing within the fuel system) and a lateral fuel imbalance developed, including diverting to a suitable airport before the fuel imbalance became extreme; and (3) a loss of control while the pilot was maneuvering the left wing-heavy airplane near the approach end of the runway.
Findings · 7
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings.
Analysis
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/reports_aviation.html. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-11-05. On March 22, 2009, about 1432 mountain daylight time, a Pilatus PC-12/45, N128CM, was diverting to Bert Mooney Airport (BTM), Butte, Montana, when it crashed about 2,100 feet west of runway 33 at BTM. The pilot and the 13 airplane passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was owned by Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Oregon, and was operating as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Oroville Municipal Airport, Oroville, California, on an instrument flight rules flight plan with a destination of Gallatin Field, Bozeman, Montana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/reports_aviation.html. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-11-05. On March 22, 2009, about 1432 mountain daylight time, a Pilatus PC-12/45, N128CM, was diverting to Bert Mooney Airport (BTM), Butte, Montana, when it crashed about 2,100 feet west of runway 33 at BTM. The pilot and the 13 airplane passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was owned by Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Oregon, and was operating as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Oroville Municipal Airport, Oroville, California, on an instrument flight rules flight plan with a destination of Gallatin Field, Bozeman, Montana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N128CM
- Reported as
- Pilatus PC-12/45
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 403
- Airframe hours
- 1,815
- Engine
- P & W Canada PT6A-67B, 1,200 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Eagle Cap Leasing, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Eagle Cap Leasing, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 9, 2008
- Departed
- KOVE · Oroville, CA
- Destination
- KBZN · Bozeman, MT
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BTM · Bert Mooney Airport, runway 33, 9,001 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 65
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 9, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,840 total · 1,759 in this make and model · 35 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KBTM
Docket · 78
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 21, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.