- Date
- December 23, 2023, 08:25 local (15:25 UTC)
- Place
- Whitefish, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N43415Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20231223019069A
- Case key
- 193635
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 failure of the airport authorities to renew the airport closure NOTAM for the airport. Contributing to the accident, was the pilot’s inability to see the runway closure sign.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that the airport had recently been closed but the applicable Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) had expired, and he flew to the airport. Upon arrival, he overflew the field to check the wind direction and then entered a downwind for the runway. The approach was uneventful until just before touchdown when the airplane struck a steel structure, which was a runway closed sign, that had been placed near the runway threshold. The pilot further reported that he did not see the sign before impact due to visibility limitations of the tailwheel-equipped airplane on approach. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot thought that the NOTAM of the airport closure had expired. It was determined that the airport was meant to be temporarily closed, but the applicable NOTAM was inadvertently allowed to expire and was not renewed. Appropriate mitigations have since been incorporated to prevent recurrence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43415
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7074
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 1,407.3
- Engine
- Cont Motor A&C65 SERIES, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 7, 2023
- Departed
- 1MT4 · Whitefish, MT
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 58S · Whitefish Airport, runway 11, 2,560 × 75 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- None
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
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 30, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 540 total · 32 in this make and model · 457 as pilot in command · 103 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.99 inHg
- Observed at
- KGPI, 6 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KGPI 231455Z 00000KT 6SM -SN OVC040 01/M03 A2999 RMK AO2 SNB32 SLP181 P0001 60001 T00061033 53023
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 8, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.