North American T-28A accident near Rexburg, ID
On August 23, 1995, a North American T-28A (airplane) was involved in an accident near Rexburg, ID. 2 people were seriously injured. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 23, 1995
- Place
- Rexburg, ID
- Aircraft
- North American T-28A · Airplane
- Injuries
- 0 fatal, 2 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 43.781°N, 111.759°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001207X04390
NTSB summary
On August 23, 1995, approximately 1022 mountain daylight time, a North American T-28A, N9640C, experienced an inflight fire west of Rexburg, Idaho. The airplane was subsequently destroyed, and its private pilot/owner and safety pilot were seriously injured in the forced landing in a field 2 miles west of Rexburg. The flight was to be a local 14 CFR 91 flight out of Rexburg. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot-in-command reported that during climbout from Rexburg between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above ground level, he began to smell smoke and turned eastward back toward the airport. He stated: "By the time I was going east the cockpit was full of smoke." He opened the canopy approximately six inches to get rid of the smoke, at which point "the smoke was replaced by fire both inside and outside. Then there was an explosion....the top right cowling was blown off. We had shut off the electrical [and] fuel by this time. I had been burned on my face and hands...." He stated that the fire was along the right side of the airplane. He dove the airplane toward "the only open field" for a forced landing; his report stated: "We [could] see ditches and [a] dike, but there were no other options." The pilot then performed a gear-up forced landing into the field. His report stated that during the landing, "the tail skid and prop were all that was touching the ground for the first 135 feet. We then impacted a ditch which put us back in the air[;] we hit nose first[,] tore the engine off and flipped[,] sliding backwards...." The safety pilot, who
Probable cause
fatigue failure of the main hydraulic line and a resulting hydraulic fluid fire. Lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing contributed to the accident.
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
