Murphy SR3500 accident near Bigfork, MT
On September 19, 2025, a Murphy SR3500 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Bigfork, MT. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 19, 2025
- Place
- Bigfork, MT
- Aircraft
- Murphy SR3500 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 48.068°N, 114.002°W
- NTSB ID
- 20250919201050
NTSB summary
On September 19, 2025, about 1205 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur built Murphy SR3500, N62ZT, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Bigfork, Montana. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to a witness, the tailwheel equipped airplane departed Kalispell City Airport (S27), Kalispell, Montana, about 1130, for a local flight. About 1200, the airplane approached runway 33 at Ferndale Airfield (53U), Bigfork, Montana. According to multiple witnesses at 53U, the airplane bounced twice during a landing attempt on runway 33. About midfield, the airplane was seen rolling out on its main landing gear, with the tail up, and the engine was heard “throttling up.” Near the departure end of runway 33, the airplane was heard climbing out when the engine was heard making a sudden, loud bang and popping sound, then became quiet. The airplane subsequently impacted trees to the right side of runway 33’s overrun area and a post-crash fire ensued. (See figure 1.) Figure 1. Event sequence at 53U Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted trees at the eastern edge of runway 33’s overrun and came to rest upright, at an elevation of 3,079 ft mean sea level (msl), about 875 ft from the departure end of runway 33. The first identified point of contact (FIPC) was a pine tree that had been topped about 50 ft above ground level (agl), located about 104 ft and on magnetic heading of 177° from the main wreckage. The fuselage was thermally destroyed and o
More accidents in MT
- Pilatus PC-12/45, Mar 22, 2009
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Browse: Montana
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
