Piper PA-31T1 accident near Great Falls, MT
On May 19, 1998, a Piper PA-31T1 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Great Falls, MT. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 19, 1998
- Place
- Great Falls, MT
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31T1 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 47.510°N, 111.270°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001211X10186
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 19, 1998, approximately 1536 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-31T1 Cheyenne I airplane, N121BE, was observed to enter a steep descent and impact terrain approximately 1/2 mile south of the Great Falls International Airport, Great Falls, Montana. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire, and both of the airplane's occupants (consisting of an airline transport pilot, who owned the airplane, and a multiengine and instrument-rated private pilot who was a former airline transport pilot and certificated flight instructor) were fatally injured. It could not be determined which of the aircraft occupants was acting as pilot-in-command of the flight. The 14 CFR 91 local flight was described as an annual recurrent training flight required for the aircraft owner's insurance policy; however, due to the lack of an authorized instructor aboard the aircraft, the operation did not meet the FAA's definition of "flight training" as given in 14 CFR 61.1. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the flight. According to FAA air traffic control (ATC) information, the airplane took off from Great Falls under visual flight rules (VFR) approximately 40 minutes before the accident, with the intention of performing air work and practice instrument approaches. After taking off from Great Falls runway 21, the pilot was given radar vectors to intercept the 11-DME (distance measuring equipment) arc for the Great Falls runway 3 instrument landing system (ILS) approach. Transitioning to ILS f
Probable cause
The flight crew's failure to maintain aircraft control.
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Browse: Montana · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
