Piper PA-31 accident near Atlanta, ID
On March 12, 2002, a Piper PA-31 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Atlanta, ID. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- March 12, 2002
- Place
- Atlanta, ID
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 43.950°N, 115.052°W
- NTSB ID
- 20020404X00457
Official records · SEA02GA053
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Summary of ATC Communication: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Transcript - Idaho Falls Ground Control: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Transcript - Idaho Falls Local Control: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Transcript - Sector 8: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Transcript - Sector 31: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On March 12, 2002, approximately 1437 mountain standard time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) at Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake Center), lost contact with a Piper PA-31 airplane, N2336V, which was on a public-use flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Boise, Idaho. At the time contact was lost, the aircraft, which was owned by the Idaho State Aeronautics Division, was transporting a juvenile offender to a commitment facility, with the commercial pilot-in-command (a part-time pilot for the Idaho State Aeronautics Division), an Idaho State Department of Juvenile Corrections transport officer, and the juvenile offender aboard. Search-and-rescue (SAR) forces subsequently acquired an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal from the missing aircraft, and located the wreckage of N2336V the following day. The substantially damaged aircraft wreckage was dispersed over mountainous terrain at elevations between 8,900 feet and 9,600 feet in the Sawtooth Wilderness, near the last recorded radar position, approximately 10 nautical miles north-northeast of Atlanta, Idaho. A ground party that reached the wreckage on March 15, 2002, found all three aircraft occupants to have been fatally injured. At 1450 marginal visual flight rules (MVFR) conditions (scattered clouds at 1,000 feet, ceiling 2,300 feet broken, visibility 15 statute miles) were reported at Friedman Memorial Airport, Hailey, Idaho, the closest weather reporting station to the accident site. After the pilot checked in with t
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while in cruise flight which resulted in the in-flight separation due to overload of the spar at the right wing root. Hypoxia was a factor.
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Browse: Idaho · 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.
